Warframe: Rite of Passage
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: Broken, spindled, mutilated, torn down... Sometimes, to become what you must be, you have to go through fire and be reforged. But a broken spirit? What can fix that? This is a fanfiction. I own none of the rights to Warframe. (Warning: This one has foul language. But that will come to no one's surprise after they read the first chapter.)
1. Chapter 1

**Flotsam**

**(Fifteen hours after the end of Enemies)**

She knelt alone in a garden of stone. It was quiet, peaceful, but she could not meditate. She could not get her mind to cooperate. Her mind was bouncing from place to place, settling here, settling there, going every which way. Try as she might, she could not get…

"Hello." The voice came from in front of her and she stiffened as she looked up to see another Tenno scrutinizing her. The Mag Prime warframe was easy to recognize. But then the kneeling Tenno went still, she wasn't in the garden anymore. She knelt on grass, a single tree overhead and wind was brushing her face. Her warframe had vanished. A dream or vision! This wasn't real! She tensed, but the Mag shook her head. "We are not enemies, girl."

"I don't know you." The kneeling Tenno said slowly. "Therefore, I do not know if you are an enemy or not. I have been attacked by Tenno before."

"Misguided Tenno." The Mag Prime agreed. "I am not your enemy, Karen." She knelt down in seiza facing the other. "I can't stay long. I need your help, Karen." Karen's eyes went wide as the form changed. Suddenly it was transparent and composed of golden energy.

"What can a single pseudo-Tenno do to help one such as you?" Karen asked softly, scared out of her mind. She had faced energy form Tenno before. It… hadn't been fun, what little she remembered of it.

"I think you are the only one who can." The specter of the first Mag said softly. "There is nothing fake about you. Karen, the only one holding you back is _you_. You need to let go of this doubt. It is crippling you. Your kin can help."

"I can't… I can't see what they are trying to teach me." Karen said sadly. "The swords, the guns… I get those. But the other… I just can't get it. Maybe… Maybe I am too broken."

"Broken things can be reformed, Karen. Iron is heated until it melts before being reformed into steel. It will take as long as it takes." Mag replied. "That is actually why I am here and trying to be nice." Karen's eyes went wide and Mag chuckled a bit sourly. "I am not, normally. I have a reputation, you see."

"No, but… I will take your word for it." Karen swallowed hard. "What do you need?"

"Miguel is in trouble." Mag said sadly. "I…feel a kinship with him that has nothing to do with the Tenno. He needs help and he will _not_ ask for it."

"_Miguel_?" Karen asked, incredulous. "That man is solid rock. He took everything Nicholas did to him and spit in the traitor's face. He is a _great_ man."

"I agree." Mag's voice was soft now. "But rock can break, given time and persistence. Miguel is about to break, Karen. He needs you. He needs you now more than ever. You are the _only_ other person who knows what it felt like. To not be in control of yourself." Karen inhaled sharply and Mag nodded. "He has been a rock, for so long. But when the clock changes to the 10th of November…" She bowed her head. "He needs you." Karen stared at the other. What did the old calendar have to do with anything? Yes, the survivors in Avalon had preserved the old time keeping, but still…

"What can I do?" Karen asked. "If he won't talk to me?"

"_Make_ him talk to you." Mag's voice took on a stern note. "And hurry…" Karen stared, the Mag was fading, or Karen was…

* * *

Karen jerked awake. She had fallen asleep in her meditation again! She glanced at the chronometer in her warframe and sighed. 2355 hours. She had slept for ten minutes. She still had…

Wait. Why did that number send a chill through Karen? She shook her head.

"Might as well get an early start." Karen said as she rose from seiza. She tapped her com. "Miguel, I am on my way to the armory." There was no response and Karen stiffened. Then she was walking fast without even realizing she had started. "Miguel?" Her heart lightened as her com responded, but… something was wrong.

"Wha'ssup, girl?" Miguel sounded…wrong. Drunk? He _never_ drank to excess!

"Can't get the meditation to work, Miguel." Karen said as he walked very quickly. "On my way to the armory to start cleaning again. Which ones?"

"Don't bother." Miguel slurred. "No point…" That too was wrong. Miguel was so fanatic about the cleanliness of his weapons that he literally used a white glove to check for dust on occasion. Karen felt a sick feeling start to come into her gut. He sounded… Like she had once. When she had been _suicidal_.

"Miguel?" Karen asked as she darted into the elevator and started it down to the deck that held the armory and range. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong." Miguel reassured her. "Celebrating a birthday. I am at the range. Come on by if you want." The com clicked off. Karen left the elevator at a run and keyed her com as she ran.

"Alert! This is Karen." The Mag warframe felt like a suit of clothes as she ran. She barely noticed as she took a corner by running along a wall and jumping to another wall, something that had always eluded her in training. "Something is wrong with Miguel!"

"Karen?" Alicia's calm voice came over the com. "Situation?"

"I don't know." Karen said quickly. "I just commed him and he sounded drunk! He said he is in the range!" She was almost to the range when Alicia replied.

"Karen!" The medic's voice was taught with fear now. "He is inside. And yes, he is drunk. _Very_ drunk. Karen! He has live weapons! Stay out of there!"

"He is going to kill himself!" Karen snapped as she slid to a stop at the door to the range. She hit the intercom. "Permission to enter, range master?" She called.

"Come on in, Karen…" Miguel sounded even worse than he had before.

Karen entered the room cautiously. Miguel was sitting at a table near one wall, a table covered in guns. He had a half filled bottle of something in his lap. He wore a blue uniform and a white hat sat upside down on top of the guns. Karen's eyes bulged under her helmet as she saw the hilt of a sword at his hip! He _never_ wore a sword! Called them 'effete' when he was being _nice_.

"Just in time, girl…" Miguel slurred, waving the bottle at her. He smiled a bit as he stared at the clock. It changed from 2359 to 0000 and he gave a loud belch. "Happy birthday!" He called as he took a long drink.

"Whose birthday?" Karen asked, not moving.

"Ah… Had to pick a day. They picked this one." Miguel set the bottle down and leaned back in his chair. "On this day -November 10- in the year 1775 pre-Orokin, the Continental Congress of the United States of America decreed the raising of two battalions of marines to serve as landing parties for the Continental Navy. After the first Empress started her quest to unite humanity, various services joined forces. The various Marine of the various countries chose to remain Marines… Despite all kinds of pressure, they stayed as they were, amalgamated, but still Marines. Stubborn…the lot of us." Karen stared at the man she admired as he rose to his feet, braced to attention and started to sing.

((tune Marine Corps hymn watch?v=Jh5OlT-cslQ))

From the Hills of Applodorus

To freezing wastes on Xini;

We fight our Empire's battles

In the air, land, space and sea;

First to fight for right and freedom

And to keep our honor clean;

We are proud to claim the title

Of Orokin Marines.

The old man was crying as he finished the song. Karen shook her head, stunned.

"You were a _Marine_…" Karen said slowly. "I… I didn't know…"

"Once a Marine, always a Marine. Didn't exactly cover myself in glory… being captured and all…" Miguel slurred as he sat back down. "Buried it. Buried it all. Buried _them_ all. But… they wanted Class 'A'… I gave em… Class 'A'…" He belched again and Karen went cold as he reached for the table and pulled out a gleaming pistol. Ancient, but well cared for. Not a weapon she knew.

"What pistol is that?" Karen asked, scared and confused.

"Sawn Mark 15A." Miguel said with a smile that faltered. "Standard sidearm. Ten millimeter automatic pistol. Fifteen round clip." His shoulders drooped. "Had this… when they took me… One of the bastards took it as a souvenir. Found it…" He stared at the pistol in his hand. Karen shook her head. She knew Miguel had been captured and enslaved by Nicholas' renegade Tenno just as she had been, but…

"Miguel." Karen said weakly. "I am sorry. I… didn't know. I never asked."

"You were a civilian." Miguel said softly. "How _could_ you know? We knew the risks. We signed up and trained. Took the oath and… did what we were ordered. Possible or not, we did it. Semper Fucking Fi… we did it… Every… _single…_ FUCKING _time__.._." With each heartfelt word, his head sank lower until his chin sat against his chest. She saw tears falling again.

"Miguel, you are scaring me." Karen shook her head. Bu then… "No. No you are not scaring me. You _disgust_ me!" Miguel's head jerked up and he stared at her. She snarled at him, a first. "All this time, I looked up to you. All this time I believed you were the sole solid thing in this whole crazy existence. And what do I find? You are just a drunk." Miguel opened his mouth, but cut off as Karen screamed at him. "Are you the _only_ one they hurt?"

"It's not like that girl." Miguel said slowly. "It's not. Karen… I… I buried this for a reason… I am a danger…"

"_So am I!_" Karen screamed. "Don't you dare leave me!" She shouted. "Not now. Not after all of this!"

"I am sorry, Karen." Miguel aimed the pistol at his head but went still as Karen pulled it away from him. It flew across the room to land against the wall. At least it didn't discharge. "Karen!"

"Get away from those weapons!" Karen snapped. "_Now_, Marine! No one gave you _permission_ to die! Not yet!" Where had _that_ come from? She had no idea. Miguel stared at her.

"Karen…" Miguel shook his head and reached for the table, only to stare as the whole _table_ flew across the range to crash to the floor. Firearms fell everywhere. "Now you done it…"

"You don't have my _permission_ to die, Marine." Karen felt herself say. "On your feet! _Now_!" The voice that was and was _not_ hers simply _oozed_ command and Miguel lurched to his feet. "Disgraceful… So _utterly_ disgraceful… Of all the lousy, good for nothing…" She fought whatever was controlling her and the presence pushed back. _You want him __**dead**__, girl? Shut up and let me handle this!_

"Who the hell…?" Miguel was staring at Karen but… not at her. "Karen… what…?"

"No, not Karen! Karen is scared out of her mind, with reason, you fool!" The presence within Karen said sourly. "I am so glad that my own squad mates didn't live to see this. The last _Gunnery Sergeant_… One of the pride of the Marines. The epitome of what a Marine _should_ be… Is a stinking _drunk_!" The derision in her tone could have cut steel.

"It ain't like that…" Miguel protested.

"Did I _say_ you could speak, Marine?" The voice said softly, slowly and to Karen's utter amazement, Miguel braced to attention.

"No, Ma'am." The sergeant said quickly.

"Like I said… Disgraceful." Karen was shaking in fear, but a gentle touch to her psyche had her relaxing a little as her voice spoke again. "I don't remember anything in the Oath of Service about feeling _sorry_ for yourself." Miguel jerked but did not respond. "Shape up, Marine. Now." The other presence in Karen snapped.

"Permission to speak." Miguel said, not moving from where he was braced.

"Denied." The presence within Karen snapped. "Suck it up, Marine. You _still_ have work to do!" With that, the presence was gone and Karen fell to her knees, feeling faint.

"Karen…?" The new Tenno had never heard Miguel speak like that, so… timidly.

"She… she is gone…" Karen said weakly as she collapsed. "I _hope_ she is gone… god… that was… I…" She curled up on the floor and started to cry as her own personal nightmares returned. "_Someone else was in control of me… __**again**__… I…_"

"Oh Karen…" Karen heard his shoes come close and then a hand was on her arm, turning her on her side despite the mass of her warframe. "I am sorry, girl."

"Don't… don't go…" Karen begged him. "I need you. We need you… I… please…"

"Ah, Karen…" Miguel sat down beside her with a thump. "I put it all behind me, Karen. I buried it all. Seeing the uniform again… Wearing it… It hurt. It really did. I fell… so far…" He shook his head. "Karen…"

Karen swallowed hard and then snarled a bit. Tears were still falling as she focused her mind and her warframe split open. She slid out of it and the smell was awful. Miguel had been drinking for some time.

"You are not alone, Miguel." Karen said as she reached for his shaking form. "I am not a Marine, but you are not alone." She pulled him close and held him as he started to cry again. "Easy…. It's okay."

"No, it ain't." Miguel said heavily. "I am sorry, Karen. Got so wrapped up in my own misery… Never thought about you. Or the others… just the pain…" He bowed his head and then it came up. Karen recoiled from whatever it was she saw shining in his eyes. "Pain is weakness leaving the body."

"Miguel…" Karen said slowly. "Don't…" She couldn't say what she was trying to verbalize.

"It's all right, Karen." Miguel's voice was still slurred, but there was something else in it. Something new. Something Karen had never heard from her friend before. "I got a job to do now. And _you_ need some downtime."

"Miguel…" Karen was shaking as the old Marine stood, his arms coming down to scoop her up effortlessly. "No. Don't…"

"It's all right, Karen." Miguel said as he started off, hefting her shivering form easily. "Time I got off my butt and started acting like a Marine again."

"You _are_ a Marine!" Karen protested. "No matter they did to you, they could not take that from you!"

"No, they couldn't." Miguel said with a small smile. "Thanks, girl." The door hissed open before they got there and two warframes stood highlighted. Both had weapons ready. "Alicia, Aeron… Karen has had a hell of a shock. My fault." Karen tried to speak, but she was shaking too hard.

"Karen?" Alicia asked, holstering her Bolto pistol as she stepped forward. "What happened?"

"I got stupid." Miguel's honesty was painful to hear. "Someone hijacked Karen's body to send me a message." Both Alicia and Aeron hissed at that, and the sniper lowered his Braton rifle. "Don't." Miguel cautioned Aeron. "I…ain't… all here, Aeron." He warned. "Haven't drunk that much in a long, long time. Gonna feel it tomorrow."

"You okay?" Aeron's rifle came back up, but not quite aimed. Not that the sniper could miss at this range.

"No." Miguel admitted. "Haven't been dressed down like that in even _longer_. But I _deserved_ it. Karen here didn't." He held the girl still as Alicia swept the shivering form with her scanners. "Whoever that was, if I ever find her, I am going to whup her ass." Karen stared up at the old man, her eyes scared and Miguel smiled a bit forlornly. "It's okay, Karen. Let Alicia help."

"_No!_" Karen screamed as Alicia reached for her! "_No! Not another Tenno! No!_" She was blubbering and couldn't stop as Alicia recoiled. "Filthy Tenno enslaving me, taking control of me! All of you…" She lashed out and connected. Miguel grunted, but didn't release her as she fought. "Get away from me!"

"Doc!" Miguell begged and Alicia stepped forward a hypo in hand.

"_**No!**_" Karen screamed even louder, this time managing a solid strike that caught Miguel off guard. His training kicked in, he grabbed her wrist and twisted easily. Karen gave out an animal squeal as pain flared through her and there was sudden crack. Everything stopped as Karen sagged to the floor, her right arm twisted oddly.

"No!" Miguel released the girl whose arm he had just broken and recoiled away. "Oh god… No, Karen…"

"Get… away…" Karen slid along the floor as the Tenno stared at her. Before any of them could move, Karen had the fallen pistol in her left hand.

"Karen." Miguel said softly as Karen trained the pistol, first at Alicia who didn't move, then at Aeron, who also didn't move. "Put the pistol down. What is the first rule of weapons, Karen?"

"Don't aim at anything you don't want to shoot?" Karen was heaving now, her breath coming in gasps. Her good hand was shaking badly, but she was backing up, away from the frozen Tenno and the ashen faced Marine. "The ones I want to shoot are dead…"

"Karen…" Alicia begged. "You are hurt and going into shock. You need help."

"_Not yours!"_ Karen screamed. "I am not Tenno! I never _will_ be! I… I can't do this! I can't…"

"Yes, you are, Daughter." Aeron said softly as he slung his rifle. "You are Tenno."

"It was Tenno who took control of me…" Everything stopped as Miguel and Aeron both cursed, the exact same vile epithet. She felt wall behind her and slid along it, away from where Aeron was stepping in slowly. "I _can't_ do this. I try and try and try, but I can't do this…" Pain was building in her wrist but she ignored it.

"Yes, you can." Miguel had an oddly shaped weapon in hand now, but she focused on Aeron who was still moving closer with glacial speed. "You just need the right motivation."

"Aeron…stay back…" Karen warned, the weapon moving.

A flash…


	2. Chapter 2

**Dross**

"What the _hell_ did you do?" Alicia nearly screamed as Miguel lowered the weapon he held. She darted to Karen's side and relaxed as she saw the girl breathing.

"Stunned her." The Marine shook himself and rose, brushing off his uniform. "She is gonna need help. I got this…" He nodded to the mess of the range. Aeron just looked at him from where the Loki warframe stood. "She was terrified, Aeron. She was going to pull the trigger. On us, or on herself… You know it. I know it." Miguel's words were not an excuse. Simply an explanation.

"I do." Aeron did not move. "But I am not leaving you here alone." He did not move as Alicia scooped Karen's still form up and departed at a run.

"I was… stressed…" Miguel slumped a bit. "Seeing it all again. Hearing it all again… It hurts, you know." Aeron nodded slightly and the old Marine sighed. "Of course you do. You have seen it before."

"What I remember." Aeron's voice was neutral. "I thought you were Army."

"Yeah… Well…" Miguel shook his head as he righted the table that Karen had pulled and started laying some of the scattered weapons on it. "Wasn't very proud of how I wound up here, you know?"

"What specialty?" Aeron asked as he bent down to pick up a pair of rifles that had fallen quite a ways from the table. "I mean… All Marines were riflemen, and you were obviously an armorer."

"All Marines _are_ riflemen." Miguel corrected the Tenno absently as he straightened the rifles on the table. "'This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me my rifle is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless'."

"Marine Corps Rifleman's Creed." Aeron's voice was very quiet.

"Originally US Marines. We took it for our own." Miguel's eyes were far away. "Because it is true."

"Yeah, that it is. We took it as well, but our version is 'This is my Skana'." The Loki warframe didn't move and Miguel sighed.

"They all wanted to know, Aeron." Miguel said softly. "I couldn't say it. I couldn't tell them what happened. The… Um… Eliza and Michelle..." –even here he wouldn't break security if he could help it- "..., they didn't ask, but everyone else _did_."

"Mitchell and Anne didn't, did they?" The Loki could have been carved from stone.

"No." Miguel had to admit. "They were overwhelmed. Can't say I blame them. Class 'A's… Been a while since I last wore these…" He brushed his pants and grimaced at a stain on them. "Geez, I am an idiot. But adrenaline still clears alcohol like nobody's business."

"You didn't kill Karen, Miguel." Aeron's voice was calm and assured.

"Could have." The old Marine said soberly. "Pull and twist, you know? Figured the muscle memory would be gone by now. It ain't."

"Miguel, you know what they did to you." Aeron hadn't moved at all. The sniper was downright scary at time. "I know Alicia told you."

"I know I ain't totally human anymore. The genetic damage." Miguel did not look at the Loki as he picked rifles and pistols up from the deck to place them on the table. "But I ain't Tenno neither."

"You could be." Aeron recoiled as the Marine turned, his face incandescent.

"Back the frack off, Tenno." Miguel's voice was even, but menace sang in it. "I am what I am. Folded, spindled and mutilated, but I am _still_ a Marine. Now and always."

"I am making a mess of this, Miguel." Aeron's voice held deep sadness now. "I have to stay, I can't leave you alone until Sensei gets back. We are not pushing you, Miguel." He stepped back to the door, beside it, but able to block it. "You earned my respect, Sergeant. You know how hard that is to do."

"Yeah." Miguel's sudden burst of anger vanished as quickly as it had come. "Yeah, I do." He slumped a bit and then sighed. "I ain't going to do anything else dumb." His voice was sad as he placed the last rifle on the table and started unloading the ones that had ammunition. The pistol lay where it had fallen. Aeron looked at it and Miguel shook his head. "It can sit there. I ain't touching that. If I do…" He took a deep breath. "Karen's right. I was only thinking about myself. That ends now." He straightened a bit as he worked the rifles on the table, unloading each carefully.

"What specialty?" Aeron repeated after a moment. "As a Marine?"

"MOS 1812." Miguel replied, his focus on the weapons. "Armor. At least, that was my last designation."

"Tank commander." Aeron's words were not a question. "And Nicholas' people…"

"We got word they were going to hit a munitions store." Miguel's voice was low and his eyes were far away. "'_Special_ munitions'." Aeron tensed and Miguel nodded. "Renegades were bad enough."

"Renegades with _nukes_?" Aeron actually shuddered. "Ouch…"

"Yeah." Miguel slumped a bit. "We couldn't stop 'em. There as just no way. We knew it, _they_ knew it. They tried to go around us. Only one entrance to the bunker. We pounded the _crap_ out of them. But they kept coming. We did the job. We held them long enough that the techs got the munitions deactivated."

"How many tracks?" The Loki's voice was gentle now.

"A platoon." Miguel said softly. "Nine M402s. Forty four of the bravest people I had the privilege of knowing. I…"

"Miguel?" Aeron asked, but Miguel barely heard him…

* * *

**Past**

"They are coming in _again_!" The forward gunner called. Corporal Melinda Carver's twin .50 caliber machine guns chattered, tearing up the Martian landscape in front of the huge mass of metal that was affectionately called 'Mean Streak' by her crew of five. "I count three!"

"How much longer can we keep this up, Gunny?" Private Ernie North asked as he laid his sights in, the two turrets that carried the main battle tank's main armament tracking his slaved gunsight. "Identified!"

"As long as we _have_ to! Fire!" Gunnery Sergeant Miguel Smith didn't need to look through the periscope to see that the gunner's shot had flown true. It didn't matter. Milliseconds before Mean Streak had fired, a huge white globe had appeared in between the tank and her target. "Damn it! Not again!" He cursed. "Load HE! Target landscape! Tear that thing up before… No…"

Another of the tanks of Task Force 73 Bravo was suddenly outlined by lines of blue. Lightning. A growl went around the fighting compartment as Track Four -called 'Big Bad Mama' by her crew- shuddered and then exploded, her internal ammunition cooking off in the aftermath of a lightning strike. Heavy armor was good against a lot of things. Swords, and bullets couldn't get to most of the vitals. Corrosive acids? Um, yeah, they could handle that for a while. The armor was designed to defeat Sentient acid attacks. Cold? Ha! They were designed to fight in all environments, including space. Electricity of that intensity? Not so much. That damn Volt had killed most of the tanks of his platoon. A burning body flew from one of the hatches, one of the crew had been trying to egress. The flaming Marine fell to the ground and lay still.

"HE up!" Private Jacques reported as he checked his systems. One name was all that uncommon in the middle of such a horrific war. Too many had lost too much. The loader/munitions specialist actually had the least to do, which was why Miguel had put the brand new private in that role.

"Find that damn Volt! Got to be within visual range!" Miguel called as the tanks guns fired again, blowing huge holes in the landscape and tearing down the Snow Globe that had kept it's fire from hitting the three renegade Tenno who had been acting as a diversion. The forward guns fired again and Miguel added his commander's 20mm chaingun and grenade launcher to the firestorm. The three renegades fell back, darting from cover to cover as Mean Streak's secondary guns tore their cover to shreds. But the guns couldn't track fast enough as the Tenno fled.

Everyone had known as soon as the mission brief had come down that this was going to be bad. Nine heavy tanks versus five or six Tenno was nowhere even _close_ to an even match. Tenno were beyond scary. The thought of Tenno going renegade just increased the pucker factor. Then what the _target_ was… Retreat was _not_ an option, not that any of Miguel's platoon would have even considered it.

Orokin Marines, contrary to popular belief, _did_ retreat on occasion. Most of them were not stupid and getting killed for no gain was generally stupid. But there were times when there simply _wasn't_ any other option. Such as when murderous renegades threatened to steal nuclear weapons. So, the order had come down. Hold them off until a team of techs could render the weapons inert. And that was what they were doing.

The M402 'Kursk' heavy battle tank was in many ways a throwback to earlier days. Technology had improved greatly since the days of the First World War and the belching monstrosities that had crossed no man's land bristling with machine guns to take enemy trenches. At the height of Orokin power, the main battle tanks used by the Orokin Marines could hover up to a meter off the ground, had a crew of two –a commander and a driver- and could engage and destroy targets as far away as orbit with pinpoint precision. But…

When the Sentients had come, that ultra tech had become at best a hindrance and at worse, deadly. Horror stories abounded of troops whose automated weapons turned on them in the middle of battle. Whose weapons stopped firing at enemies and opened fire if friendlies crossed this muzzles. Entire units wiped out when munitions had activated in transit. So… As always, the Marines had learned their lessons well.

The M402 had exactly _one_ not hardwired computer aboard to help in targeting the two main guns. Said computer was the best early _twentieth_ century tech available. Not all that great at doing things fast, but essentially unhackable. The other computers were dedicated systems that ran the reactors. No outside links. But then that left _other_ things that had to be done and the Orokin Marines had done as they had throughout their history. Improvised, adapted and overcame. Highly trained manpower took the place of computer power. A driver, a forward gunner, a main gunner, a loader/munitions specialist and the commander. Five people to crew a vehicle the size of a large family dwelling. Heavy armor, reasonable speed and _insane_ firepower. When the Kursks rolled in, the Sentients _ran_. But this time… They were not fighting Sentients. At least they hadn't brought infantry. That would have just been a slaughter. And not of the enemy.

"Damage to track four!" Private First Class Curtis Nickols called from his driver's seat. "I think that Ash got around behind us again."

"Status?" Miguel snapped off a flurry of round at something he could barely see and growled as a form darted away from the tank. He fired and missed. "Ash identified. Corporal Carver… See if you can singe his tail feathers…" The dual 50s forward chattered but the Ash teleported away before the shots could connect. "Dang! Stations call off!"

"Driver, Reactor at 100%, tracks at 40%." Nikols reported. He hadn't had much to do. This was a holding action. As long as the tanks held the entrance, the renegades could not get to the nukes. If they tried, the tanks had a clear shot at anyone trying to get in the huge armored hatch. The Ash had tried it once. Once. The Martian sand made for _great_ footprints…

"Forward guns, ammo at 30% Guns fully operational." Carver replied. Kursks carried a lot of ammo, but this had been a long battle.

"Main guns up. HE in both barrels." North reported. "Coaxial guns loaded and off safe." Miguel nodded the gatlings that sat beside the main guns ate ammo like nobody's business and if he couldn't find a clear target… well… He would find a suitable target at some point. "Minor damage to gunsights. Operational… Target identified!" He called and Miguel snarled.

"Fire!" The commander called and the tank rocked as both 200mm cannon spit simultaneous shells at the barely visible figure in the distance. "Target!" He caroled as the shells hit and a Frost warframe went flying. Not disabled probably, but almost certainly surprised as _hell_. Tenno were ungodly tough and regenerated wounds that would kill anything else, human or Sentient like. "Good shot!"

"HE loading. Main gun loadout at 40%" Jaques reported. "Coax at 100%." That sounded like a lot, but the gatlings would go through their full load in about ten seconds of sustained fire. Admittedly, anything they shot would _know_ it had been touched, but still…

"Keep it up, people." Miguel said grimly as another icon of a friendly tank vanished from his display. They had started the fight with nine. Now he saw three and all three had red marks on their displays of heavy damage. But _none_ of the enemy had gotten past them. Mean Streak's turret had a full 360 degree arc of fire. Two main guns, two coax 10mm Gatlings. Each tank also had a set of indirect fire support rockets. The Marines had learned their lesson about fully automated guided weapons against Sentients. It had been a costly lesson. "Find me that Volt!"

"No joy." Carver said as the fifties chattered again. "Got a piece of an Excalibur though."

Miguel winced. The whole thing about Tenno really, really bothered him. Some of them were okay. The old ones. The ones who stayed away from humanity and just protected it from the Technocyte virus. They had a duty and they did it. He could understand and even admire that. Just the holos of that history made him want to puke. But it was the new ones, the ones that some bright boy in high command had ordered 'made' that turned his stomach. Tossing unprepared people into the Void and then fishing them out… changed…was sick. There were worse stories circulating too. Desperate times called for desperate measures, but still…

"Marine Lead, this is Tech Team." The call came and Miguel had to think for a moment before he realized _he_ was in charge after the lieutenant's track had been hit by the Volt earlier in the fight. One hit and Zzzzt. No survivors.

"Tech Team, Marine Lead. Go." Miguel said sharply as the forward guns fired again.

"Mission accomplished, Marine Lead." The tech said quickly. "We are bugging out. Munitions disabled."

"Best news I have heard all day, tech!" Miguel said with a wide smile. "Get out of here, we will…"

"_Volt, Three o'clock!"_ Carver screamed. "He is throwing!"

Miguel spun his turret and fired before he even had a clear sight picture…

* * *

"_Nothing_?" The irate voice pulled Miguel out of unconsciousness into pain. "_None_ of them?"

"The radioactives are gone." Another voice sounded tired or wounded. "Dunno where, but gone. We have the warhead casings, but without the radioactive materials… they are useless. Nicholas, they will have sent more support. We _have_ to get out of here. We took too long. You said they would _run!_ That they wouldn't _fight!_"

Miguel forced his eyes open and then wished he hadn't. He lay on his side, unable to move. Mean Streak burned in front of him. His eyes flickered and he saw other pyres. He didn't need his light combat armor's HUD to know that all of the tanks were burning. All of the other crew dead. He looked over and yep, it was the head honcho himself, resplendent in his gold hooped helmet.

"Sane people would have run." The Frost Prime said, looking at Miguel. "Your people didn't need to die."

"Fuck you, renegade." Miguel managed before the pain curled his inside in knots again. "No way you scum could make _Marines_ run. No way in hell. We stopped you."

"Gunnery Sergeant Smith. Sole survivor." The Frost Prime said with a sigh. "There was no need for this… this slaughter. We have no quarrel with you."

"Right." Miguel hawked and spat. "All good megalomaniacs never have a quarrel with the people they want to _slaughter_. Try again, you lying renegade _scum_." A snarl sounded nearby, but the Frost Prime raised a hand. "Go ahead, _slime_. You know you _want_ to. Kill people who _cannot_ fight back. It's what you terrorists _do!_"

"No." Nicholas said calmly. "Protecting my kin is what I do and I think we can use you."

"Won't help you!" Miguel snapped. His pistol holster was still sealed and one hand was underneath him. He inched it towards the holster. If he could… just…

"Tenno ship on approach!" Another voice called. "It's _Karl_!" The Frost Prime spun away as fear sang around the area and Miguel took his chance. He drew his pistol and aimed, squeezing the trigger. "Nicholas!" The voice called and the Frost Prime dove to the side as Miguel fired. He was tracking, his pistol bucking as a heavy weight hit him and he knew no more.

* * *

"Wake." The cold voice of the leader of the renegades came and Miguel felt his eyes open. The Tenno stood in front of him, unarmored and Miguel reached out to strangle the traitor, but… his hands didn't move. "Welcome home, Smith. We need munitions and weapons. You will construct both for this clan. From now until the day you die, you will serve this clan."

_What the…?_ Miguel tried to understand why his body was suddenly rising of it's own accord. Then he saw what lay behind him and quailed. A Sentinel Controller. He had been enthralled!

"It's poetic in a way." Nicholas said as Miguel stood at attention before him. "You stopped us from getting the weapons we needed but we will use you to make weapons of our own. Not mass destruction weapons, but you _will_ be useful. Get to work, slave." He said coldly. Miguel was cursing non-stop in his mind as his body obeyed the arch traitor.

* * *

**Present**

"Miguel?" Karl's voice was careful as Miguel came back to himself. He was standing in the middle of the messed up rage. Aeron stood by the door, but Karl now stood at the door. Flashback. He hadn't had one that bad in a long time. He could still smell the fear and sweat inside the turret… "Miguel, you back?"

"Yeah." Miguel said softly. "I am back."

"I think we need to talk." Karl didn't move from his spot, his warframe blocking the door.

"I… gotta clean up the mess…" Miguel said weakly, looking around. But then he paused. "But I got a date with the head first…" He said as his stomach started to turn.

"I got this, Miguel." Aeron's words were not –quite- a dismissal.

"Come on." Karl's words were not –quite- a command.

"Karen?" Miguel asked as he started for the closest bathroom. Karl fell in beside him.

"Still asleep." Karl could have been discussing the weather for all the emotion he showed. "I didn't know you were in the team on Mars. Part of the team that died to hold Nicholas off long enough for the nukes to be deactivated. I didn't think there were any survivors, Miguel."

"There weren't." Miguel said, fighting both his emotions _and_ his stomach. "Begging your pardon, sir…" He ran into the facilities and lost what he had drunk. After a few fairly nasty minutes, he wiped his mouth and sighed as he looked down at his dress blues. "Crap…" His uniform was ruined.

"The uniform does not make the man." Karl said with a shrug. "Come on."

"With all due respect, Karl…" Miguel said with a snarl. "I quit."


	3. Chapter 3

**Fire in the Belly**

"Okay." Karl nodded. "Where do you want to go?" Miguel paused and Karl actually laughed. There was little humor in it. "Miguel, you are not a slave. You are not even an employee, really. You are a friend." He slumped a bit. "I like to think you are one anyway."

"You could have killed us." Miguel said slowly. "You _should_ have killed us. Every moment you spent disabling us, that monster grew stronger." He swallowed hard. Remembering when Karl had come was a good memory, but the memory of setting traps for someone trying to rescue him was not. He hadn't had a choice, but still…

"It would have been wrong." Karl's voice hadn't changed, but suddenly, Miguel could hear tones in it. Sadness, worry, fear… It was as if Karl had just opened his armor, letting the old Marine hear the truth from him instead of the rock hard armor he normally showed the universe. "If you want to leave, Miguel, you have but to ask."

"I have things to do." Miguel said softly. "Things I just got reminded about."

"This has been a bad day for a lot of people." Karl was stone, but his voice was a feather. "I didn't know, Miguel. Eliza insisted on full uniforms for military personnel. I don't think _she_ knew. She was just as shocked as the rest of us when you showed up in that uniform." Miguel shrugged.

"Be that as it may, Karl…" The Marine straightened and stared straight at the huge warframe. "A Marine doesn't stop being a Marine when he is captured by enemies."

"Miguel…" Karl nodded slowly. "I understand. Just because there was no way to fight the enthrallment doesn't absolve you, does it?" Miguel shook his head. "If you need _anything_, let me know." Miguel tilted his head curiously and Karl shook his again. "My brother hurt you. I am clan leader now and you are a friend. You have had time here, to heal. To start to move on. If we can help in any way, we will, but this path is _yours_, not ours."

"Thank you for understanding." Miguel felt himself start to choke up. "I-"

"Sensei!" Amelia's scared voice came from an intercom. "We need you in medical! Now!" Karl started off and Miguel followed.

"Sensei… If Karen woke up with Alicia tending her…" The old Marine winced and Karl snarled. "A Tenno took control of her to give me a boot to the butt." At that, Karl actually cursed and Miguel nodded as he kept up with the Rhino. Karl couldn't run flat out without tearing up the dojo floors so the human could pace him. "My responsibility."

"_Our_ responsibility." Karl disagreed. "I should have noticed you were having problems." They didn't say anything as they entered the elevator. The short trip up the shaft seemed to take hours, but as soon as the door opened…

"Stop her!" Alicia's voice held terror, but…not for herself as a small form cannoned into Karl before bouncing off and out of the elevator. Miguel had a moment to see Karen's anger filled face before the girl ran off, her bare feet sure on the deck. He took off after her, cursing his dress shoes. "She woke up and went berserk!"

Karen obviously couldn't see where she was going, she was bouncing off walls and Miguel caught her quickly. He disdained subtlety and threw himself at her. A flying tackle brought the girl to the floor where she screamed as her wrist hit the deck.

"Don't hurt her!" Alicia sounded as if she were crying. But at the sound of her voice, Karen went completely bonkers in Miguel's hands.

"Stay back!" Miguel was grateful when the other Tenno who had come at the medic's shout complied. "Karen… Karen…" He held her as she beat impotently at the ground. "Easy girl…"

"I… I have a sedative…" Miguel looked up to see Amelia approach slowly. His eyes went wide as he saw a large bruise on her face. "Not her fault."

"Hurry, doc." Miguel said as the girl tried to squirm out of his grip. She was hissing, flailing and trying to bite. Amelia bent down and injected the girl in a swift, smooth motion. Karen stiffened and then went limp in Miguel's hands. Miguel waited a moment, but the girl was out like a light. He got off her and carefully gathered the still girl up. "What happened?"

"She woke up." Amelia winced. "We were not sure how long your stunner thing would last so we had her in a regular room. Alicia went to check on her and… she did not react well."

"A Tenno took control of her to send me a message." Miguel walked back towards Medical, Amelia pacing him. "She either had a flashback, or a breakdown of some kind. Being out of control does that."

"Damn." Amelia was crying now. "She was doing so well. Who the hell did this to her?" She demanded.

"I dunno." Miguel said softly. "Doc, if she wakes around Tenno again. Or Jimmy…" The cyborg medic gave Miguel the creeps. He had been tended more than once during his time among the renegades by the half human healer that was all the renegades had as a dedicated medic when theirs fled. "It won't be good."

"Can you stay with her?" Amelia asked slowly. "Brianna and I will need to help her, but… if she goes berserk, neither of us can stop her."

"Doc, I hurt her once already." Shame sounded in the old Marine's voice as he looked down at Karen's arm that had a temporary cast on it. "Didn't mean to. It was instinct." He carried her into Medical and was waved to a room by Brianna. He entered the room and saw restraints laid out on the bed. "Oh, _hell_ _no_!" He said, stopping in mid stride.

"We can't tend her if we are trying to keep her from hurting us." Brianna's voice was quiet from just behind him.

"And if she wakes up strapped down? Out of control again?" Miguel demanded. "You may be able to put her back together after, doc, but that is gonna be hard." He shook his head. "If she wakes strapped down, it's going to tear what little sanity she has left to shreds, doc." He turned bleak eyes to her. "Trust me on that."

"Miguel…" Brianna's eyes were just as bleak. "We may not be able to help her."

"Maybe you can't." Miguel said with a snarl. "I _can_."

* * *

**Later**

He knew when she woke. Despite being in the middle of a set of sit-ups, Miguel had kept most of his awareness on the bed that he had finally deposited Karen's still form in. He did not miss the jerk and the suddenly open eyes. Or the confusion that came into them. He didn't blame her. He hadn't worn PT uniform in a long, long time. He was mildly surprised that the Tenno clothing fabricators had Marine uniform patterns, but then again, he knew that Cecelia in particular had dumped a _lot_ of information into the systems. He had gone through his pushups and was in his third set of sit-ups when Karen gasped.

"Mornin'." Miguel said as he sat up and paused. "Join me?"

"M…Miguel…?" Karen's eyes flicked around wildly. She jerked from side to side, terror rising. Miguel nodded approval as she moved beyond it. "What happened?"

"I stunned you." Miguel's voice was flat. "You were losing it."

"Yeah." Karen swallowed hard. "I was… I did…" She pulled her knees up and hugged them tight. "I broke." She was crying now and Miguel sighed.

"Yep, you did." The Marine replied evenly. Karen's head came up, her tear streaked eyes incredulous at his off handedness. "I ain't saying that it is a good thing, cause it _ain't_. If I find that lousy stinking Tenno, I am gonna whup her _ass_." His tone was matter of fact. He wasn't making a threat. No, this was a _promise_.

"I'll help." Karen's voice may have been small, but a smile crossed her face.

"That's a girl." Miguel said with a smile of his own. He beckoned to her. "Come on, some exercise will do you good."

"But…" She paused, staring around. "Where are we? This isn't Medical."

"Too many Tenno in Medical." Miguel said with a shrug. "You have had enough shocks for one day."

"What?" Karen asked, then then blanched as memory returned. "Oh god no… Did I _hit_ Amelia…?"

"Yeah." Miguel said dryly. "Don't hit people in the face unless you are wearing protection, girl." Karen looked at him oddly and Miguel chuckled with no humor at all. "Teeth are sharp and the human mouth has lots of bacteria that just _love_ open wounds." He smiled at her expression as she stared from him to her hand, which was bandaged and back. "You going to loaf all day? I don't care, but I can't leave you alone." He started another set of sit-ups.

"Where are we?" Karen asked after a moment of watching him exercise.

"Guest quarters." Miguel said with a grunt as he finished the set and sat up slowly. "Brianna and Amelia are monitoring, but everyone else is staying away. Karl's orders."

"What?" Karen asked weakly. "That isn't procedure for a Tenno with sanity issues."

"If you had woken strapped to the bed with Jimmy or Alicia bending over you, you would have lost it completely, Karen." Miguel snarled. It was scary, but Karen…relaxed a bit. Somehow she knew he was protecting her. "I ain't gonna let that happen. We got time."

"I had a mission…" Karen said as she crumpled a bit.

"You are off the roster." Miguel rose to stand by the bed with a sigh. "Sick leave."

"I am not sick!" Karen protested.

"Yes, you are." Miguel replied evenly. "May I?" He nodded to the bed and Karen waved a hand in assent. He sat down on one end, as far from her as he could be and still be on the bed. "If there is one thing I know about, Karen, it is being broken. Nicholas did the same thing to me."

"He didn't want to _breed_ you…" Karen's voice held hate now.

"You think that spared me their attention?" Miguel asked calmly although he was far from calm inside. She stared at him and he snarled. "Think about it. My team didn't stop them, but we kept them from accomplishing their mission. I was handy. I was available. They didn't do to me what they did to Olim, but…" He slumped a bit as Karen gasped in shock and fear. "They had all the time in the universe to abuse me. Abuse of POWs has been a time honored tradition amongst warriors since the dawn of human history. Why should Nicholas' scum have been any different?" He fought to tamp down the hate in his voice. It was hard. "I spent as much time in Jimmy's care as you did. So much easier to hurt someone who can't fight back."

"Not all Tenno are like that." Karen said weakly.

"I know that." Miguel shrugged. "Not all Marines were straight up paragons of virtue." He chuckled. "Now that I think about it, _none_ of the Marines I knew were paragons of _anything. _Except maybe drunken singing…"

"What were they like?" Karen's voice was barely audible. "Your people?"

"_My_ people?" Miguel asked sadly. "Ah… My team was a group of five. Myself and four others. We ran one track." At Karen's perplexed look, he smiled. "One tank. We called them 'tracks' because they _had_ tracks. Big mean clanky things with guns all over the place…Beautiful." He could see Mean Streak in his mind's eye now. "And good people to run them."

"Tell me about them?" Karen asked. "What were their names?"

"Why do you want to know?" Miguel didn't mind, per say. But the pain was still raw. Pain was a fact of life for a Marine though. You didn't get through Boot Camp without learning to handle pain. And fear. And loss. And…

"I just realized, I don't know anything at all about you." Karen said with a wince. "Everything I thought I knew… wasn't true."

"I am still your friend, Karen." Miguel laid a hand on the bed and after a moment, Karen covered it with hers. "I never lied to you… I just… I wasn't proud of what happened."

"I know." Karen said with a sigh. "What were your crew's names?"

"Carver, North, Nikols, and Jacques." Miguel replied. "North drove us, the rest of us fought the track. It was my job to coordinate them and keep them alive. I failed."

"You were overmatched." Karen gave his hand a squeeze. "But if it is any consolation, they screamed about what you did." She said with a smile.

"They _did_?" Miguel was amazed. He had never heard any of that.

"I was… a bit out of it." Karen said with a sigh. "But I remember them bringing damaged warframes into Medical for Jimmy to patch up. They talked as if I wasn't there." Her smile became a grin. "You scared them, Miguel. You scared them _good_."

"Well, yeah." Miguel said with a grin of his own. "Deadliest weapon in existence during Orokin? A nineteen year old Marine with a lost temper. Sure in his immortality and madder than _hell_." He sighed. "We did the job. As always. Semper Fi all the way."

"Semper Fi?" Karen asked after a moment. "You said that before. What does that mean?" For a moment, Miguel stared at her, slack jawed and then he nodded.

"It's a short form of 'Semper Fidelis'. It's Old Earth Latin." Miguel said quietly. "It means 'Always Faithful' or 'Always Loyal' depending on who you have translate it. Same difference."

"Always Faithful?" Karen asked slowly. "Yeah, yeah I can see that." She slumped a bit. "What am I going to do?" She begged.

"I don't know, Karen." Miguel gave her hand anther squeeze. "If _anyone_ had a right to fall apart, you did. I mean, fighting, maybe dying was _my_ job. Not yours. We had our training and each other. You were not prepared for _anything_ that happened to you."

"But you didn't die." Karen said after a moment.

"And to this day, I have no idea _why_." Miguel shook his head. "My hatch was closed. Locked. We didn't want Tenno getting into the tracks, dropping a grenade in or just shooting in. Not a lot of space to fight inside one of those, you see. And…" He winced and Karen looked at him. "Bouncers in an enclosed area are _no_ fun at all."

"Ouch." Karen agreed. "I guess not." She shook herself. "Now what?"

"Now I finish my exercise." Miguel said with a nod. "I have some stuff I need to do. That ignorant witch who used you had _one_ thing right. I wasn't acting like a Marine. That stops now." His tone could have bent iron.

"I guess… I need to talk to the docs…" Karen's voice was so sad. "I… I thought I was doing well."

"You _are_ doing well, Karen." Miguel reassured her. He gave her hand another squeeze. "The things that were done to you would have cracked anybody. Anybody."

"Not a Marine." Karen said sadly, but paused as Miguel shook his head. "Wha-?"

"Marines were human, Karen." Miguel said softly. "Humans are fragile and fallible. The training helps with both, but in the end, we were… just human." He shook his head. "We did the job. Nicholas was bad enough. Nicholas with a store of nuclear warheads?" Karen paled and Miguel nodded. "We paid in blood for it, but we stopped him."

"This may be selfish for me to say, Miguel…" Karen's voice was quiet, but clear. "But I am glad you survived."

"Me too." Miguel cracked a grin as Karen chuckled. "Want to exercise a bit?"

"Sure. Sit-ups?" She asked as she rose, Miguel followed.

"Fine by me." The Marine said as he sat, slid his ankles under the bed and started doing crunches. Karen sat down beside him and did the same. After a while, Karen spoke again.

"Miguel?" Karen sounded a bit timid. Miguel couldn't really blame her.

"I don't bite Karen." Miguel chuckled at that. Not much anyway. "What's on your mind?"

"Would I have made a good Marine?" Karen asked as she repeated the exercise.

"From what I have seen?" Miguel was smiling as he matched her speed. "A very good one."

"Could I do that? Become a Marine?" Karen asked, and froze as Miguel did, halfway through a crunch. "Ah…"

"Karen…" Miguel sat up straight and looked at her. "Do you know what you are saying? You are Tenno."

"_I don't want to be Tenno!_" Karen screamed and then recoiled. "I… No… I… I…" Miguel looked at her for a moment, then he crossed his legs and waved for her to come close. She went down to her hands and knees, more like a beaten dog than a Tenno as he reached out and pulled her onto his lap.

He held her as she started crying, shuddering on his lap. It was wrong for the old Marine to do this with what was really someone else's daughter. It didn't matter. He rocked her as she cried, humming an old, old tune to keep her as calm as he could. Finally, she relaxed and he sighed.

"Karen… You are Tenno." Miguel said softly. She tensed again, but relaxed as he stroked her arm. "Nothing can change that. If this were the old days, sure, we could get you enlisted, send you off to Boot Camp and get you trained up. It isn't. I am no Drill Instructor. I know the basics and I remember what was done to me, but… that is all."

"I don't know what to do." Karen sobbed.

"For now?" Miguel said with a smile. "We get you put back together. I will look into options, but Karen…" He chided her gently. "You don't do anything without Aeron and Jac's approval, okay?"

"You think they will say 'No'?" Karen asked, her eyes wary.

"I am afraid they will say 'Yes'."


	4. Chapter 4

**Back to Basics**

"She wants to _what_?"

The doctor's irate voice wasn't –quite- a shout. Amelia had a very good glower, Miguel privately admitted as he and Amelia watched Karen sleep on the monitor. It had taken both docs some time to calm Karen down and get her to talk. Brianna still sat with the sleeping girl, just in case. It wasn't a question of _if_ she would have nightmares, it was _when_. So Amelia and Miguel had gone to Amelia's office where Aeron and Sensei had been waiting. Only then had Miguel dropped his bombshell.

"She wants to join the Marines? Might work." Aeron said from where he stood with Sensei, both in robes instead of warframes. Amelia turned an incredulous stare at him and Aeron shrugged. "Doc, she hasn't been getting any better."

"She has!" Amelia protested. "Sensei!" Her voice was nearly desperate.

"Amelia." Karl said gently. "Has she? Has she really?"

"I…" Amelia turned to stare at the image of Karen sleeping and her face fell. "No." She admitted, her voice tiny. "She was _coping_ better…"

"But she wasn't _getting_ any better." Sensei said quietly. "I know Alicia has been worried about her for some time."

"And my solo nature isn't all that great for building trust." Aeron said with a wooden expression. Miguel shook his head and Aeron looked at him. "Yes?"

"She knows you nearly died for her, Aeron." Miguel said quietly. "She does love you. You and Jac both." He shook his head now. "Might be part of the problem."

"Too close?" Aeron asked, his face thoughtful. After a moment, he shrugged. "I don't know. I never…did get close to people." Karl patted his shoulder and the sniper shrugged. "Miguel? What do you think?"

"First of all…" Miguel tried to keep his face calm. "I don't know if I can do it. Teach her how to be a Marine. I was a sergeant, yes. But not a Drill Instructor. It was a different skillset. Second…" He slumped a bit. "She wouldn't pass the psyche eval to get in." Amelia smiled, but Miguel held up a hand. "Doc, this isn't the old Marines. I don't think one on one training by someone like me would work."

"Why not?" Karl's question was honest and Miguel replied the same way.

"I was never a trainer for anything but tracks, Karl." Miguel shrugged. "Ask me to train her in the operation and maintenance of a M402? That I can do. Teach her to march in a straight line and basic Marine stuff?" He shook his head. "I don't have the training, or the patience."

"There may be a way around that." Karl said quietly. "What would you class her on physical capability?"

"Better than me." Miguel didn't hesitate. "Your training regimes are as tough as Boot Camp, if not more so. The problem is fundamental though. Tenno fight as individuals. Even when you work together, you are individuals." Karl and Aeron exchanged a glance and nodded slowly. "Marines were trained to fight solo or as part of a team. We preferred to fight as a team, that way our weaknesses were buffered by our teammates' strengths. As far as I know, I am the last. If she were to do it… Two Marines would go down like wheat in front of a Grineer assault." He said with a shrug. "We need a squad, or more to really make a difference."

"You do yourself a disservice, Miguel." Karl wasn't arguing. Not really. "What if… you could get one of those tanks again?" Miguel scoffed and Karl shook his head. "I am serious."

"If there was one remaining, the Grineer would have found it and stripped it by now." Miguel winced at that, but remained firm. "Or the Corpus would have chopped it up as an Orokin relic."

"We have reason to believe that a storehouse of military tech from before the Collapse still exists, Miguel." Miguel went still at Karl's words. "According to Michelle, it's something called a 'pre-po'?" he queried the odd word.

"Pre-positioned cache? That is not possible." Miguel said definitely. "The locations of all of them were known. Open source. We tried to hide them every so often, but the idiots of the press always _had_ to know…" He growled. "And as soon as _they_ did, the _enemy_ did. Not enough Marines to protect them and the other forces couldn't protect them adequately. Tanks don't do so well without ammunition or spare parts." He shook his head again. "Even if we found one? I would need four more trained people to run the track."

"If we could find one…" Karl pressed. "Could you teach people how to operate it?"

"Probably." Miguel temporized. "_If_ it is a tank I know." He shook his head. "Karl, this is silly. Even if you _could_ get one, how would you _move_ it?" He demanded. "They didn't need fuel, but it is kind of hard to _carry_ a hundred ton tank in your _pocket_. The lifters were Navy and _they_ are all gone."

"Well…" Karl sighed. "We don't even know if one is there. Just that the location wasn't vaporized in the Collapse or overrun by Infested."

"Where?" Miguel asked softly and then froze as Karl looked at him. "Karl…"

"Mars. The bunker you held. They made it a memorial." Karl voice was very quiet. "A true 'None shall pass' moment. They needed heroes."

"We did it because it needed to be done." Miguel said, his face clouding. "Not for medals or glory. Dead heroes count for very little."

"In the darkness that was overwhelming everything…" Aeron's voice was hushed. "Even the smallest of lights was important." Miguel just looked at him. "What you did was important Miguel." Miguel looked at him for a moment, then turned and left the room.

"Miguel!" Amelia came running after him. "Wait!"

"I need some time, Doc." Miguel said, not turning.

"I have to say this…" Amelia matched paces with him. "I am sorry."

"For?" Miguel didn't slow.

"I thought you were okay." Amelia's voice held regret. "I didn't think… None of us thought you were having problems."

"I am not." Miguel said with a soft chuckle. There was precious little humor in it. "If I were, you would know."

"Then…why…?" Amelia froze in place as Miguel stopped in mid-step and spun to face her, his face cold. "Miguel…?"

"I wasn't acting like a Marine." Miguel's tone was calm, but something lay underneath it. Something… dangerous. "That ends now. Let me know how Karen is when she wakes." He left Amelia standing in the hall, her mouth ajar.

* * *

**Two hours later**

"Holy…" Miguel did not look at the door to the workout room hissed open. He was busy. "Miguel… what the _hell_?" Olim's voice was somewhere between shock and awe.

The Marine didn't respond for a moment. He was fighting for breath. Of course, he had reason. The Battle Dress Utility uniform he wore was soaked through and through. The dark spots were sweat mixed with camouflage. He hit the treadmill controls and let the machine level out from it's twenty percent grade. Then he strode off it, his posture erect despite the seventy pound pack on his back and the long rifle in his hands. He moved in a careful circle to cool off, his rifle at port arms. He shook his head at the obviously stunned Frost Prime who stood in the doorway, an equally stunned Saryn right behind him.

"Out of shape." Miguel said with a shrug. "Got to fix that." He slung his rifle and dropped to the floor, he did a long, slow pushup and then another. Despite the huge mass on his back, the rifle stayed perfectly balanced in it's sling. "Need something?"

"Yeah." Olim's voice was still stunned. "Did you hear anything about a 'Valkyrie' project in the Marines?" Miguel went still, halfway down in a pushup. "You did. Ah… Mori has the codes… I'll be… outside…" The Frost Prime shook his head as he stepped out, but his mutter of 'Uh-rah, Marines…' was clearly audible.

Miguel stood up, still balanced in his pack. He unslung his rifle and started doing the manual at arms with it. Port arms, present arms, order arms, trail arms, inspection arms, sling arms …all in sequence, all crisp and clean despite his obvious fatigue. Mori shook her head and spoke a series of code words. When she was done, Miguel went to parade rest.

"What do you know?" Mori asked from her spot by the door.

"It was a dumb idea, Ma'am." Without even the trace of a frown, his disapproval was clear. "I don't mind tech when it works and won't be turned against us. But that project was just _stupid_." Mori nodded for him to continue and he shook his head, just a little. "I was Armor, Ma'am. Do you know what the life expectancy of a Kursk main battle tank was when the enemy was ready for us?"

"The files I read said about two minutes when anti-armor weapons were deployed." Mori said quietly. "But if that were the case, the tanks wouldn't have been useful."

"Never underestimate the will to survive, Ma'am." Miguel with the hint of a smile. "Especially when it was Marines who took a dim view to people shooting at them. Most times we deployed with point defense pods and infantry support." His head gave a tiny shake. "That last battle? They wouldn't have made a difference. The renegades didn't have anti-tank rockets and infantry would have been wheat to a scythe."

"If they had?" Mori asked slowly. "Rockets that is."

"Each tank had a multiple launch rocket pod to counter battery. Taking out Tenno is hard. Taking out anti-tank munitions is easier. One hit and 'Boom'. And… we had time to dig in a bit." Miguel shrugged a bit. "Not far, couldn't get hull down. But our only true weak spot was the bottom. The vents for the reactors were there, couldn't be armored. _Getting_ there for anything but a stealthed Tenno was… improbable. The Ash didn't even try. He knew better."

"The Sentients had stealth units." Mori said, curious. "Didn't _they_ try?"

"Oh, sure, they _tried_." Miguel gave a dark chuckle. "Thing was, even if we couldn't _armor_ the vents, that didn't mean we couldn't _protect_ them." Mori stared at him, her disbelief clear even through her closed faceplate and he grinned at her. It was a malicious grin. "Ever hear the words 'Claymore Mine'?"

"_Mine?_" Mori asked and then she gasped. "You _didn't_?"

"Hey…" Miguel shrugged. "All is fair in love and war."

"Land mines were illegal, immoral and just plain _wrong_!" Mori snapped. "Indiscriminant and awful."

"And _highly_ effective at denying an enemy access to an area." Miguel retorted calmly. "We didn't plant them in the _ground_, Tenno, so jettison the moral outrage. We glued them to the underside of the hull. We were at war. Most of your kind were not getting involved. We did what we had to. There are only two kinds of people in war…" He paused as Mori sighed and relaxed.

"Those who survive and those who don't. Message received, Marine." Mori shook herself. "I am... sorry… It just… We are supposed to be better than that. Laying land mines… is…"

"Effective." Miguel finished for her. "Not noble, not honorable. But _very_ effective." He shook his head and went back to the original subject. "I didn't know much about Project Valkyrie. We heard about it during the war, but…" He shook his head again. "We were busy."

"What did you hear?" Mori had a datapad in hand now to take notes.

"Supposedly a new advanced armor prototype." Miguel said with a wince. "Of course every time they did _that_, the Sentients hacked the systems and turned them against us. I swear the bean counters at HQ were more dangerous than Sentient guns sometimes. We could shoot _back_ at the Sentients. The idiots at HQ who had these bright ideas? Not so much."

"Now, _that_ I understand." Mori said with a wince. "Try getting ammunition replicated for target practice in an enclosed environment." Miguel looked at her and then nodded slowly. Avalon had a lot of power available, but not many actual material resources. They recycled everything. Every. Single. Thing. "We have _all_ wanted to shoot the resource control officers on more than one occasion."

"Ah, but then the _paperwork_…" Miguel winced dramatically and Mori laughed.

"True." The Saryn sounded disgusted. "You would think that the fact that a _war_ was going on would be kind of important. Nope. Got to have the forms filled out. It was a merry day when I got here and found an extra ammo mutation mod."

"We don't curtail your ammo." Miguel said with a scowl. "At least… _I_ never did."

"No." Mori agreed. "But I took the mod back home and they copied it. The resource people are… a bit upset that we can change ammo to match our guns now. Messes up their inventories." Miguel barked a laugh and she nodded. "So, thank you."

"_Always_ glad to help in the ongoing struggle against the bean counters." Miguel's grin was wicked. "So… Anything else?"

"Miguel, they may have finished Project Valkyrie." Mori said after a moment. Miguel shook his head and Mori sighed. "Desperate times call for desperate actions, Miguel."

"Yeah." Miguel agreed. "But that… Mori, that is just plain _dumb_… It wouldn't _work_." He said with a sigh. "Trust me, the whole idea is just _dumb_. If they could armor it to withstand direct fire… It wouldn't be able to _move_." His face turned grim. "And even if it _did_? The Sentients would have hacked it and bammo. That was the whole _point_ of the M402s. As close to unhackable as they could be made."

"What if they couldn't?" Mori was calm, too calm. Miguel's eyes narrowed. "Be hacked that is?"

"Why?" Miguel asked slowly.

"Miguel… If they couldn't be hacked…" Mori started, but stopped talking as Miguel nearly exploded.

"_Anything_ can be hacked, Tenno!" Miguel snarled. "Just ask your cyberlancer friend. _Anything_ can be hacked. Even human _brains_ can be! I was _there_ when they sent us into Europa with the M391s. Unhackable, they said. Sealed neural links. Rotating frequencies, hardwired coms, nothing to hack, they promised us. They ****ing _promised_ us…" He shook his head, striving for calm and attaining it after a moment. "Fifty tanks went in, _two_ crews worth of Marines came _out_. Don't _talk_ to me about unhackable." Mori didn't react and Miguel took a deep breath. "You knew."

"I ah… looked up your record." Mori said sadly. "I didn't… mean anything. I was curious. Words… simply cannot do it justice, Miguel. How much Orokin owed you and the other Marines. We Tenno know about loss. We know about fighting hopeless battles. Eliza wants to talk to you."

"I ain't ready." Miguel said after a moment. "Besides, I need a new class 'A' uniform. Old one got trashed."

"This is directly from Eliza and I _quote_ 'He can come in whatever he wants'." Miguel went still at the Saryn's calm words. "'He can come in a _tutu_ and nobody will say a _word_.'"

"Seriously?" Miguel said, his face creasing a smile. "She said _that_?"

"Those exact words." Mori said with a snort of her own. "Everyone was shocked when you appeared. We knew… you had served. But not that."

"Wasn't proud of what happened." Miguel shrugged. "Wasn't hiding. Just didn't mention it." Mori looked at him and a small flush of embarrassment crossed his face. "Okay, okay, I didn't explain. Didn't correct anyone when they called me a soldier. Wasn't important. The Corps is gone."

"Miguel…" Mori's voice was very quiet now.

"If Aeron and Jac say 'Yes' I will do what I can to train Karen." Miguel grimaced. "I was never a DI, but I _do_ know the basics."

"Miguel." Mori repeated and he looked at her.

"What?" He demanded.

"We have that covered." Mori said quietly. Miguel went still and Mori shook her head. "No details outside of secure areas. The problem is… what was the failure rate for recruits?"

"Depending on the timeframe, between twenty and fifty percent." Miguel replied without hesitation. "My class had twenty five percent drop out. Two deaths." Mori nodded and Miguel smiled grimly. "Didn't think you would be surprised."

"From what little I read about Orokin Marine Corps Boot Camp, I am surprised that so few people died." Mori said with a shiver that was visible even in her warframe.

"What we did wasn't easy." Miguel was calm now, he had fielded this question a number of times in his career. "We were highly motivated. But we were not _stupid_. Dead men can't do the job." Mori's disbelief came through loud and clear again and Miguel shrugged. "Everything that happened in Boot Camp was focused on one thing, making Marines. Some may have called it 'organized sadism' or 'evil' or whatever. It worked. The Corps took men and women from all walks of life, all sorts of backgrounds, all kinds of personalities, and made them into one of the most effective fighting forces in the Solar System." He shrugged. "Kind of hard to argue with the results."

"Okay." Mori shook her head. "I can see the point. My own training was brutal, but my training masters didn't try to _kill_ me."

"Mori…" Miguel had an odd look on his face now. "You really think instructors went out looking to kill their recruits? Most of the deaths were accidents. Both of the ones in my own section were. Falling off a three meter high wall in full gear will kill you if you land wrong. Raising your _head_ when live fire is just over top of it will kill you. Anything can and will kill you if you let it. The instructors did their job, made us Marines. Being a Marine wasn't even _close_ to safe."

"It still seems kind of stupid to kill recruits." Mori said with a wince.

"You think the _Marines_ were bad?" Miguel asked with another shrug. "Look up the training of the Roman Legions or the French Foreign Legion. Let alone some of the special ops guys. Now _they_ were crazy."

"Pot, meet kettle?" Mori asked with a sly chuckle. "You are not going to convince me it wasn't stupid."

"Maybe not." Miguel acknowledged. "But Project Valkyrie _was_ stupid. I mean… really… A twenty meter tall humanoid _robot_? Really?"

"Someone in R&amp;D was watching too much anime…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Reporting In**

Miguel tensed as the portal field flared around him, but Karen didn't even twitch. Part of that was the drugs, he knew. She was holding herself together admirably but a person would have had to be utterly clueless to not have seen the tension in her before Amelia had given her a mild sedative. He was…

"Karen!" The jubilant voice had Miguel tensing again, but he relaxed as a familiar form stepped close. Jac's face was radiant as she stepped forward to hug the girl beside him and Miguel smiled a bit a Karen's expression. The girl laid her arms around Jac carefully, the elder Tenno was _very_ pregnant. The golden gown she wore did nothing to hide that. "How you _doing_, girl?" Jac demanded, hugging Karen tight.

"She needs to be able to _breathe_ to reply, Ma'am." Miguel said when Karen threw a mildly anxious glance his way. "Good to see you, Tenno Jac."

"So formal, are we?" Jac asked, letting up the pressure, but not letting go of Karen. "It is good to see you too, Miguel."

"I am in proper uniform, Ma'am." Miguel replied easily. "But it is good to see you too." The battle dress uniform had none of the accoutrements of the Class A dress uniform, but his stripes and rockers were easy to see.

"May the extremely uncomfortable Tenno beg leave to hug the Gunnery Sergeant?" Jac asked with a wide grin. Miguel had to chuckle at that. More than one of the Tenno who stood guard in the portal chamber chuckled as well. She held onto Karen with one arm and held out the other to Miguel.

"Since when did decorum stop _you_, Jac?" Miguel asked, unwinding a little and stooping so the shorter woman could throw her arms around him without straining herself. "Besides, your husband asked me for a status report." He hugged her lightly.

"He saw me two _days_ ago, the letch." Jac said with a grimace that was totally faked. "That is just like him, sending a Marine to check up on me…" Her grin was wide as she stepped back, holding onto Karen. "You okay?" She asked the Marine who shrugged.

"Not one hundred percent yet." Miguel was honest. "But getting there." He nodded to Karen. "You gonna be okay, Karen? I got people to talk to."

"I think so." Karen's voice may have been a bit unsteady, but her eyes were clear as Jac hugged her again. "I mean, Jac's my mom now…"

"And you better be good, young lady." Jac said in a mock stern voice that was utterly spoiled by the grin on her face. "Or I will turn you over my knee. We are going to see the docs." Karen tensed, but gamely tried to relax as Miguel nodded.

"Be honest with them, Karen." Miguel said quietly. "If you have a problem with anything they do, say so. Orokin medical tech is amazing, but you are an integral part of the process. If you stress, it will throw everything off." Jac looked at him and gave a small nod. "I will be by when my own talks are done."

"We look forward to seeing you." Jac said, holding out a hand that the sergeant took. She gave his a squeeze and released him. "Come along, Karen. I have _so_ much to show you…"

The Gunnery Sergeant had to smile as Karen was led from the room by the chattering Jac. One of the Tenno followed them out, a guard or guide, it made little difference. He shook himself and became professional again.

"I understand I am expected. Sorry for the delay." He spoke to the closest Tenno, but knew he would be heard by all.

"Tenno Jac is a law unto herself, Sergeant." One of the Primes, a Rhino Prime, stepped forward and nodded. "She is also _ruthless_. The docs and everyone are scared _stiff_ of her. We of the Royal Guard… stay out of her way as much as we can."

"I could have told you that." Miguel said with a chuckle. "Not to be trifled with, that girl. And now, she has a seriously unfair advantage. Twins?" He asked. The Rhino nodded. "Oh, she is gonna _rule_ this roost."

"She already _does_." The Rhino said sourly, but it was amusement, not anger. "I am Ghafoor."

"Escort?" Miguel asked. "Where can I disarm?" He carried a pistol as well as his rifle. The Lato pistol didn't fit his hand as well as his old Sawn had, but he wasn't going to carry that again. Besides, the Lato was hands down a better weapon. It was the Soma that he had slung that felt…wrong.

"Well…" The guard shook his head. "No. You don't need to. Empress' orders."

"Oh, no." Miguel said as he unslung the rifle from the sling that he had custom fitted to it. "No, no, no. Got somewhere I can clear and store these?"

"Sergeant…"The Rhino tried again. "Our orders are to let you keep them."

"Tenno." Migeul was smiling, but it had an icy edge. "I still fall under the regulations of the Orokin Code of Military Justice. Offhand… it would break five regulations that I know of to bear loaded arms into the presence of the ordained Empress when I am _not_ a member of the Royal Guard or Tenno." Miguel said with a sigh. "The _only_ penalty for violating those regs is _death_. If _you_ won't do it -and I bet you won't- _I_ would have to. And I promised Karen I wouldn't kill _myself_." A muttered chuckle went around the room and the Rhino just shook his head. "So… What is it gonna be?"

* * *

"Sergeant." Empress Eliza smiled widely as Miguel entered the small audience chamber. Michelle stood by another wall, a glass of something in her hand. But then the Empress' face took on a stern cast. "Where are your weapons? I gave strict orders."

"Ma'am." Miguel said calmly. "It is illegal for me, even as an Orokin Marine who is supposed to be armed at all times, to bear weapons into your presence. I checked. There are _nine_ regulations in the OCMJ which forbid it. Just as I am supposed to remain at least ten feet from your person." He glanced around the room and sighed a little. The room wasn't that big.

"I told them…" She started to protest but paused as Miguel shook his head again.

"They told me the same thing." Miguel said when she waved for him to speak. "I follow the OCMJ, Ma'am. You order me to break a reg and I need it in writing." Eliza stared at him for a moment and then started laughing. "Ma'am?"

"Just when I thought I had seen _everything_ in our fallen world, Sergeant…" Eliza said after a moment, still laughing. "A Marine barracks lawyer… Ah…"

"It's not that, Empress." Miguel said stiffly. "If I may?" His hand jerked a bit.

"I didn't intend this formal, Sergeant." Eliza said sadly. "But yes." She straightened and Miguel saluted her. "Yes, I know saluting the Diamondbacks was wrong." She waved and he dropped his salute.

"Not my place to say, Ma'am." Miguel said with a small frown. "All I know is the OCMJ. That said… Rendering honor where is due is rarely a bad thing. It's not like _they_ refused to salute _you_. You are the Commander in Chief. You can do what you want."

"Within reason. Good point." The Empress sad quietly. "Can we… be casual…? I believe the term is 'At Ease'?"

"I… wouldn't recommend that, Empress Eliza." Miguel said softly. Eliza waved for him to continue and he spoke slowly and carefully. "I am not one hundred percent sure of my _own_ mental stability. The discipline of the formality helps. One reason I came, I want to talk to the shrinks here."

"_Please_ don't call them that." Eliza said with a groan. "They are insufferable enough as it _is_." Miguel fought a chuckle but Michelle didn't bother. Her smile was wide. "I wanted to give my apology, Sergeant. I had no idea who you were. Or what you _are_."

"Ma'am, I volunteered for the Marines." Miguel said calmly. "The Few, The Proud, The Marines… All that. It was… hard, but I made a difference."

"I'll say you did." Eliza said softly. "My ancestors used the Corps as their fire brigade. When they started something that they couldn't stop, they sent in the Marines." She shook her head. "Maybe it was right, maybe it was wrong. I don't know. I wasn't there."

"Hindsight is always clearer, Ma'am." Miguel said quietly. "We got orders and we did as ordered. We just did the job."

"I need an answer to something that has been bothering me, Sergeant." Eliza said slowly. "I gave bad orders and got Tenno Dust killed. Tenno Jasmina left to pursue her own ends and few, if any of the Tenno who know me now trust me."

"I wouldn't say that." Miguel said calmly.

"I would." Eliza said quietly. "How did you deal with Tessera?" Miguel went still and Eliza nodded. "I read your record. All of it."

"The orders were bad, Ma'am." Miguel said softly. "But they _were_ orders. The situation was awful. Dug in enemies in high rises. We were taking direct fire. I don't _care_ what the reports say. An M402 doesn't _explode_ and _burn_ because it runs into a _ditch_." He paused. "Unless that ditch is filled with flammables, which that one _wasn't_. No mines. We were taking anti-armor fire from that tall structure, ma'am. I don't _care_ if they didn't find evidence after. We _were_."

"The captain in charge of the assault ordered you to destroy the structure." Eliza said softly. "And you did. When it fell, it crushed three other buildings."

"Yes, we did." Miguel agreed. "We ended the Sentient threat for that sector." He shook his head. "And yes, Ma'am. I would do it again, even knowing there was a field hospital in the building behind it. Those people were dead already. Sentients didn't take prisoners if they couldn't use them. You know it. I know it. The press didn't _care_." He fought his anger back.

"No, they didn't." Eliza said with a sigh. "It is not their job to care. You did the right thing and you paid for it."

"I didn't care what they did to _me_, Ma'am." Miguel said sharply. "They screwed my people because they _could_. Because it got them higher ratings." He shook himself. "No excuse, Ma'am. I…" He slumped. "No excuse."

"There is nothing to be ashamed of, Sergeant." Eliza's tone was as angry as his. "My _dear_ father had any number of faults. Not the _least_ of which was his tendency of _sucking_ up to the _press_." The disgust in her voice could have filled several trash cans.

"You don't take the uniform if you can't take a joke, Ma'am." Miguel finally tamped his anger back down. "Medals and glory and all that is a pile of crap designed to fill recruiting quotas. And make the politicos look good." He swallowed "Pardon me…" Eliza barked a laugh.

"Sergeant, you haven't said anything I haven't." Eliza said with a wide grin. "Why do you think I left my family? Went to live with the Tenno? I hated the whole 'politics is everything' mindset. It was… politically expedient to throw your unit to the wolves when you saved that _entire sector_ because some reporter decided she needed a headline." The Empress shook her head. "But then again… if you hadn't been rotated out, back to Mars…"

"He would have gotten the nukes." Miguel agreed. "Anyone else trying to stop him –barring Tenno- would have died for no gain. We held him. We lost, but we held him."

"You didn't lose." Michelle's voice was warm now. It held…something. "You accomplished your mission. You lost your whole unit, but you did _not_ let him have the nukes. _That_… was a win, Marine."

"That is all that has kept me sane, Ma'am." Miguel nodded to Michelle who looked at Eliza. The Empress smiled a little and stepped back. Miguel glanced at her, but she waved at Michelle who looked… unsure. "Ma'am?"

"I…find myself in an uncomfortable position, Sergeant." Michelle said slowly. "I don't quite know how to say this. But I will try."

"Honesty is usually better than lies, Ma'am." Miguel's tone was diffident, but inside, he felt caution rise. "Is there a problem?"

"No and yes." Michelle said with a wince. "There is no problem with _you_. Your history is a matter of record and no one with any sense looking at it deems you anything but a hero." Miguel shifted a bit uncomfortably and she nodded. "I do know about doing the job, about just being what was needed. I do know that, Sergeant." Miguel nodded. She had been Tenno. She did know. "_You_ are not the problem."

"But from your tone of voice…" Miguel said slowly when she trailed off. "There is one."

"There is." Michelle agreed, her face very uncomfortable now. "We –the Empress and I- have been approached by ten woman here on Avalon who want to bear your children."

"_What_?" Miguel actually recoiled straight out of attention and slammed into the wall behind him. Who could blame him? "You have got to be _kidding_!"

"I wish." Michelle said sadly. "You see… they don't know." Was she about to cry? "I… looked at your files, Sergeant."

"Old news, Ma'am." Miguel said with a wince. "I… can't." Michelle nodded soberly.

"Sergeant, Marine recruits were taken from volunteers. That was probably a selection out of ten percent of the population. They were subjected to the most rigorous physical and mental exams known." Michelle said slowly. Miguel nodded, still wary. "Of those recruits, up to _half_ of each class washed out of the training. You took the traditions of many different kinds of marines -Royal Marines, Marine Spetznatz and United States Marines among others- and turned out what was easily the most elite fighting force that was not geared specifically to special operations." Miguel snorted and Michelle shook her head again. "Why didn't you go Force Recon, Sergeant? They asked you. You turned them down."

"It's in the records, Ma'am." Miguel was trying not to be defensive. "It's all there."

"I want it in your words, Sergeant." Michelle said quietly. "Reading things… isn't the same. Why did you turn Force Recon down?"

"My wife… didn't want me to go Recon." Miguel grated the words out. "She said… it would cost me my soul…" Michelle took a step forward and Miguel jerked back. "Don't touch me… I… I can't…"

"Easy, Sergeant." Michelle said softly as she took a step back. "Words… I have no words, Sergeant." He looked up and she was crying softly. "There are no words that can possibly do it justice, Sergeant."

"It was a Marine Corps _base_, Ma'am." Miguel managed to regain control and braced to attention. "We knew it was a target. None of the dependents would leave." He bowed his head momentarily. "They thought killing our families would break us. They thought _wrong_." His growl was mirrored by Michelle and Eliza.

"Oh yes." Eliza said slowly. "That was quite probably one of Sentients' largest blunders. Your Corps was a big impediment to them and then they went out of their way to ensure that you would _not_ stop until _they_ were. The only way Marines _ever_ gave ground after the Sentient attack on Virginia was when every last one of them was _dead_." She sighed deeply. "But that doesn't change the facts, Sergeant. You were married. You had two kids."

"Is this germane, Ma'am?" Miguel asked slowly. "Because my response will have to be the same as when the bright boys from HQ wanted to _clone_ me. Not just no, but '_Hell No_'!"

"Not clones, Sergeant." Michelle disagreed quietly. "Having fought Grineer, I share your disdain for such methods. What the women wish… is artificial, but… not cloning." Miguel looked at her and she flushed a bit. "It's a bit technical, but they are not cloning, as in making identical cells. They would… stimulate reproduction."

"How is that different, ma'am?" Miguel snapped, then swallowed. "Ah…"

"What they would do is an ancient form of artificial reproduction." Michelle said with a wince. "They wouldn't make anything in a lab. Certainly not cloning anything."

"They would be _lynched_ if they tried." Eliza said with a glower. "And _I_ would lead the mob." Miguel remembered that she had once had five kids because of an insane reproduction experiment. Now she only had Michelle.

"And you think this is a good idea?" Miguel demanded of Eliza.

"Well…" Eliza sighed. "Once I would have said 'No', Sergeant." She seemed to slump a bit in place. "I know what it feels like, Sergeant. To outlive your children is the worst possible fate for a parent. The _worst_."

"Yes, Ma'am." Miguel swallowed hard again and braced himself. "I apologize Ma'am. I was… surprised."

"No insult taken, Sergeant." Eliza said with a small smile. "You took it better than I would have. But then again I was never a Marine." Miguel shifted uncomfortably and Eliza shook her head. "No. I know this makes you uncomfortable, but Marines were the top one percent of the human race. Not supermen, but darned close." Miguel shrugged and Eliza sighed. "Michelle…" She waved to the side and Michelle moved to stand by one wall. "Sergeant, someone wants to talk to you. In a moment, a 'hush' field will appear in the middle of the room. When it does, step in." That was an order and Miguel nodded.

The field appeared as they always did, a sphere of golden energy. Miguel took the two steps forward that took him into it and… he felt every ounce of breath leave his guts as a small form appeared in front of him. The little boy was composed of golden energy. He was… six. Miguel knew that. The boy smiled at him and spoke.

"Hello Dad."


	6. Chapter 6

**What we fight for**

"Samuel…" Miguel barely recognized his own voice. "Is… Is Danielle or your mom..?"

"No." The little boy said sadly. "Or… I haven't seen them. I don't know what happened. I heard a bang and… I woke up… somewhere else. There were Marines there, but they were all golden… like me." He looked down at himself and gulped. "They told me I died. I am… sorry, Dad."

"For _what_?" Miguel demanded. "I wasn't there when you all needed me. I was on the other side of the system." He shook himself. "We made them pay." Indeed the Marines had. There were _many_ reasons that the Sentients had fled when the Marines showed up. The Marines had given them lots of reasons.

"I know." The little boy said with a smile. "They told me what you and the Marines did. Dad… It wasn't your fault." He pleaded.

"I know." Miguel said softly. "But that doesn't stop it from hurting."

"I know." The shade of his son said sadly. "I don't know if mom or Danielle are here. I haven't seen them. It… The other Marines who are here keep us separate, safe."

"It was our job." Miguel felt tears threaten and bit them back. "To stand between those who cannot fight and those who wish them harm. We failed, Sam."

"You didn't, Dad." The little boy shook his head. "You did _everything_ you could. But what the first thing you taught me?" Miguel had to smile as a tear finally escaped his control. "What is required for evil to triumph?"

"All that is required for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." Miguel replied heavily. "Edmund Burke as paraphrased by the Corps." He smiled as he knelt. "Are you… okay?" He asked, cursing his own inability to speak what was on his mind.

"I sleep a lot." The boy said with a smile that faded. "I don't know what we are waiting for. There isn't much to do. I don't want to play _games_ like so many of the civvies do." The disgust rang clear. "They woke me and told me you were alive… I… Dad…"

"I can't touch you, can I?" Miguel asked slowly. Sam shook his head. "Dang it…" He felt wetness on his face now. "Sam…"

"They told me, Dad." The little boy said quietly. "They told me what they were going to ask you." Miguel felt his guts clench and then they eased when Conner scoffed. "I told them you wouldn't dishonor mom."

"'Till death do us part'." Miguel quoted. "I gave her my word."

"Dad, she didn't survive. She wouldn't want you unhappy." Sam said with a hint of reproof in his tone now. "You _know_ that."

"If I cheat on her, I will be." Miguel couldn't believe he was having this conversation with his six year old son. "And… huh?" He asked intelligently.

"There is nothing to do here but _learn_, Dad." Sam had an urchin-like grin on his face that made Miguel's heart leap and then wrench. "When I am awake, I am studying. All kinds of things. No one seems to know what will happen, but everyone wants to be ready for… whatever."

"Do you think I should?" Miguel asked after a moment. "Do what the Empress asked?"

"I don't know." Sam's face fell and he really looked six again. "On one hand, it _does_ feel like a betrayal. But Mom wouldn't want you unhappy. I know that. _You_ know that." The ghostly boy shook his head. "And it's not like you are going out to one of those places that Mom said she would _flay_ you if she caught you in…" Miguel had to laugh at that and Sam laughed with him. It felt… right. "I don't see it as betraying us, Dad. You couldn't even if you _wanted_ to. I hate to say it, Gunnery Sergeant Dad, sir… but… um… You would _suck_ at being a traitor."

"Well, thanks. I think." Miguel couldn't fight the smile that crept over his face and truth be told, didn't try very hard. He shook his head again, stemming the flow of tears. "You… gonna be okay?"

"They take good care of me, Dad. Of all of us. The dependents." Sam said quietly. "Although the lady in charge says she… um… made you mad at her." The boy shuddered. He had only made Miguel _really_ mad once, and that had only been worth a stern talking to. Admittedly, the boy had used his mother's prized china set as _ammunition_ for a homemade catapult…

"Yep, she did." Miguel agreed. "Tell her, from me 'Yes, I needed it. And _yes_, if I can find a way, I _will_ kick your butt'. That is her. Not you."

"That's my dad." Sam said with a wide smile that faded. "I will be waiting for you, Dad. Semper Fi." He saluted. It should have been wrong, or off, or…something. It wasn't.

"Semper Fi." Miguel stood up into attention and returned the salute. The saluting boy vanished in front of his eyes and Miguel dropped his salute as the hush field faded. Eliza and Michelle were watching him warily. "I… I don't know whether to say 'Thank you' or 'F*** you'." He stepped back to the wall. "That… really hurt."

"I got the chance to see my daughters again after they passed, talk to them for a moment." Eliza said soberly. "It hurt like nobody's business. But it helped. I can only hope this helped you."

"This was for you, Sergeant." Michelle's voice was almost inaudible. "No strings attached. You earned so much more than any of us can give. You paid, and paid, and paid…." She shook her head. "If you say 'Nay' that will be the end of it. I already told people that they were not to press you personally."

"I don't get why they would want _me_, Ma'am." Miguel said after a moment. "I mean… Yeah, I am a Marine, but… still… _And_ I am a mess genetically." Eliza looked at Michelle who nodded.

"The genetics we can fix. As for the other? First is the reputation." Michelle's tone was clinical. "Marines may not have been supermen, but they had a _hell_ of a reputation for getting the job done. And… _other_ things. It has only grown since the Collapse with no Marines to measure the legends up to. Second... And I mean this clinically: There is something about men in uniform." Miguel snorted, but then he realized that Michelle as absolutely serious. "There were bunch of studies done and none agreed, so no one has a clue _what_ it is. But it is there. You had girls –and _women_\- drooling when you showed up in Dress Blues."

"I can't _believe_ I am hearing this…" Miguel muttered. "Where were you when I was _nineteen_?"

"I was busy, Sergeant." Michelle said with a smile. "But that comes to the last point. Like it or not, you are a human male who has _not_ been in this station since the Collapse." Miguel's eyes narrowed and Michelle nodded. "We have had serious problems with inbreeding. Medical tech helps, but… There are limits. And then not everyone here can sire or bear children." Eliza seemed to wilt a little and Michelle laid a hand on her arm. "All that said, it is _your_ choice, not ours. The docs promise me that the procedure is quick and painless. I am not sure if I believe them or not." She mused.

"I still don't see how this would not be cloning, Ma'am." Miguel wasn't sure about this. At all. "Ten women? From me? I don't see that."

"Well…" Michelle pursed her lips for a moment. "The docs gave a longwinded technical explanation. But essentially, what is the difference between a clone tank and womb tank?"

"A _clone_ tank and a _womb_ tank?" Miguel asked cautiously. "A _clone_ tank is where a clone is grown. They wake up fully formed and fully adult. A _womb_ tank…" He paused and his mouth dropped open.

"Yes, Sergeant." Michelle was smiling a little wistfully. "You would be giving woman who do not have children the chance to bear and raise them. The docs have said that they can bear them to term naturally or have them in womb tanks. The tanks are safer. You would need some help to fix the damage that was done. The… joining of the male and female bits would need some medical help. But the actual _growing_ would be as natural as we can make it."

"You are serious." Miguel frowned. "Actual kids?"

"Yes." Michelle said firmly. "All of the women who asked were checked for psychological preparedness. We have that down now. We had some… incidents when Avalon was transitioning from a hideaway to a survival shelter. We learned not to take people's words for such things."

"If people want kids…" Miguel didn't think this was a good idea. "Doesn't that hospital of Iriana's have unattached dependents?"

"They do." Michelle agreed. "Some are being vetted for adoption as we speak by the psychologists. Not everyone can live in an enclosed environment, you know." Miguel nodded slowly. "There were ten women who wanted actual children. For whatever reason, they wanted to bear and raise children. They asked me, to ask you."

"So… I wouldn't have to do anything but contribute… bits you say." Miguel really felt uncomfortable with this. "That…feels wrong. A father has a duty to his offspring."

"Several of the women are married." Michelle said quietly and Miguel felt as if he had been punched in the gut. "They asked their partners –male and female- about it and the partners agreed. We would, of course, keep a very close eye on them. But essentially, they saw someone they admired and wanted to ask."

"Would it even work?" Miguel asked after a moment. "I mean, not all men are compatible with all women. Genetically that is."

"All but one meet the minimum requirements for compatibility." Michelle nodded. "That one comes close, but we will likely steer her to one of the kids from Mercury. Safer that way for both her and the child."

"I…uh…" Miguel felt faint. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything." Michelle sounded as if she were fighting back tears. "I know how much you lost. You don't need to do anything, or say anything. If you choose not to, well, that is your choice. We would regret it, but we will not press you." She shook herself. "Changing the subject..." Miguel nodded in thanks. "Project Valkyrie was never finished."

"Well, thank god for that." Miguel could not restrain a wince. "Just the thought of a twenty meter tall humanoid robot showing up the battlefield makes me as a tanker start to _salivate_. Big fat _target_. And how do you put any decent point defense on something like that? Makes me wonder how much anime those fools in R&amp;D were watching."

"They couldn't get it to move right." Michelle nodded. "They tried and tried and tried, never got past the prototype stage. A little bigger than a human."

"I could have told them that." Miguel grinned sourly. "Armor plate something enough to deflect rifle fire and it gets heavy. Anything more protective and it gets _insanely_ heavy. Three quarters of the mass of an M402 was armor alone." He paused. "Why such interest in this?"

"The Grineer recently started searching for something they call 'Valkgaraja'." Eliza said with a grimace. "Not sure exactly _what_ it is, but if they want it… We don't want them to get it. We did a records search and came up with 'Project Valkyrie'."

"Tenno don't know?" Miguel shook his head. "Valkgaraja doesn't ring any bells with me."

"The Tenno sent two reconnaissance missions into the area in question on Mars." Eliza's tone jerked Miguel up straight. "They lost contact with both operatives." Miguel's eyes went wide and Eliza nodded. "The only thing they found was… this." She touched a control and a holo appeared in midair. It seemed to be a sign of some kind. On it, a globe was shown. Surrounding the globe were an anchor, an eagle and an old style Saturn V rocket. The insignia of the Orokin Marines. Underneath it was writing…

"Holy crap…" Miguel swallowed hard and both the women looked at him.

"You know what it says?" Eliza wasn't asking for a translation, Miguel realized. For confirmation.

"Old Earth Latin. Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate." Miguel had closed his eyes, reciting from memory. "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."

"Um…" Michelle gulped. "What?"

"It's from a book, Dante's 'Inferno'. That was inscribed above the door of the main entrance to the main training facility on Earth way back when." Miguel still had his eyes closed. "Every day, Marine recruits passed under those words coming and going. We took it as a Corps motto when they torched the Virginia base. We all did." He mused. "Our hopes had abandoned us, so we made the enemy abandon _theirs_."

"Could it be Marines?" Eliza asked slowly. "Even after all this time?"

"I don't know." Miguel replied honestly. "It's possible, but if so, they won't trust anybody. Maybe not even me." The two women stared at him and he made a face. "Using prisoners to break into enemy strongholds was a long storied tactic. Then there was the Trojan Horse and all. If they _are_ Marines, they will shoot first and ask questions later. If ever."

"There is… one other thing…" Michelle's voice was worried now. "The officer in charge of the Valkyrie Project never reported back when the project was scrapped. The funds and resources disappeared."

"Not good." Miguel said with a wince. "From what I heard, that was lot of resources."

"It gets worse." Eliza said quietly. Miguel looked at her and she shook her head. "The officer in charge? Naval Lieutenant Marlena Smith."

"Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me!" Miguel nearly exploded again. "_Her_? In charge of an R&amp;D project? Did HQ collectively lose their F***ing _minds_? That woman was _insane_!"

"Sergeant…" Eliza said slowly. "If she went rogue…"

"She was smart, no question." Miguel said with a snarl. "But she was never _loyal_ to anything but _herself_. Her going _rogue_ was a foregone conclusion. At least in the _Navy_ we figured they could keep a close eye on her. Pity no one _shot_ her."

"Sergeant…" Michelle said slowly. "You are… not unbiased."

"Princess, I knew her for _fifteen_ years before our parents tossed her out on her _ass_ for being a _thief_." Miguel fought for control, it was hard. "Yes, I knew my sister. No, I wouldn't trust her to _shine_ my _boots_. She would screw it up and say it was my own _good_. That was the way she _was_. If she is still around… God help anyone who runs into her. She always had a plan, a way out."

"Sergeant… We will need to find out what is going on." Eliza gently steered the conversation back to where it had been. "If it _is_ Marines… We could use them. If we can get communications working again."

"_If_ it is Marines, Ma'am…" Miguel agreed. "Then I am the only one who _might_ be able to talk to them. Getting there would be interesting. Feasible but interesting." He chuckled. "Haven't done an orbit drop recently."

"Could you do it, Sergeant?" Eliza asked slowly.

"With the proper gear, sure." Miguel spoke without hesitation. "You may or may not have the proper gear here."

"What would you need?" Eliza's tone had hardened. This wasn't a mother or a friend now. This was an Empress. Michelle had a pad in hand to take notes.

"Drop harness, assault armor, life support pack…" Miguel thought hard and nodded. "If you have it, a K-3 with rocket attachment. For starters."

"Michelle?" Eliza asked, a bit worried.

"I don't know." Michelle said with a frown. "We have a Marine armory. Hasn't been opened since the Collapse. No one had the codes and everyone knew it had a self-destruct. We have schematics for just about every piece of Marine gear ever made. But I don't think we have any of that in regular stock currently."

"Show me this armory. I can probably open it." Miguel nodded. "Well, first I need to check on Karen. Then I can check the armory. Then I need to figure out how I am going to get there and back."

"That is the _least_ of your problems, Sergeant." Eliza smiled at his expression. "NightNova is asking to help and Mitchell is flight capable again. Good enough?"

"Diamondbacks?" Miguel said with a grin. "Oh yeah, Ma'am. Oorah." He braced to attention and gave her a salute.

"Michelle, get the sergeant to the infirmary to check on Karen." Eliza said with a nod. "Then see if he can get into the armory." Michelle nodded and started for the door. Miguel fell in behind her. "Good luck, Sergeant."

"With all due respect, Ma'am." Miguel said with a smile. "Fools trust in luck. I prefer to trust in skill and firepower."

"Get out of here, you crazy Marine." Eliza made a swatting gesture, but she was smiling as the door opened and Michelle led the way into Avalon. The Rhino Prime from before formed up beside them.

"Destination, Princess?" Ghafoor asked calmly.

"You can tell Petra to stop trying to crack my encryptions." Michelle grimaced. "It was a private conversation."

"Princess…" Miguel's tone was calm, but carried. "Keeping your guard outside while you met with a trained killer was a bad idea." A Mag Prime hurried to meet them, just her steps showed irritation. "A _very_ bad idea."

"You wouldn't hurt me." Michelle shook herself and sighed. "But I can't know that. It was… important though."

"Don't do that again, Ma'am." Miguel said calmly. "You don't _know_ if I would hurt you or not. I could be totally fricking bonkers and you wouldn't know." The Mag Prime paused as she met the group and then nodded fractionally to Miguel. "Let's go see Karen and then I want to talk to the docs. Both about me… and... the other. Yes. I'll do it. Humanity's survival is important, right?" Both Tenno stiffened a bit and Miguel sighed. "Not much of a secret, huh?"

"It's… kind of important to them." Michelle admitted.

"Why?" Miguel asked, confused. "Why would _they_ worry about _kids_?" Michelle had an odd smile on her face. "What?" Miguel demanded. Michelle just smiled wider.

"Avalon needs an heir. One of the women who was interested in a kid was me."


	7. Chapter 7

**Training**

Karen lay still in the oblong pod. Miguel had to tear his eyes away from her to look at the screen. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. On the screen, Karen ran in step with forty nine other men and women in familiar uniforms. A form in an equally familiar uniform ran beside them. He didn't need sound to know that the woman in the broad brimmed hat was calling cadence. The other pods lay quiet with golden garbed forms moving quietly between them.

"Are you sure I can do this?" Miguel asked the docs for the fourth time. "I saw the readouts, but I can't interpret them."

"Sergeant." The one called Chirurgeon, the head medic was calm. "Your readings are… phenomenal. You are stressed, we all get that. But your control is insane." He said with a grin. "You won't hurt any of the participants. And they cannot hurt you. Safety parameters are set."

"I… don't like that." Miguel said as he sat back in the chair. "Combat is not safe, doc. Training should be harder than combat. The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in war."

"So it has been argued." Chirurgeon said with a grimace. "I don't like it, but… The Drill Instructors have authorization to… modify the safety parameters. Just not _yours_."

"Fair enough." Miguel lay back and closed his eyes.

"There… may be some people you knew, Miguel." Michelle sounded worried and Miguel smiled without mirth.

"Not all that many of us even at the best of times." Miguel agreed. "But… We were all Marines. We will adapt."

"Ooorah." Michelle said quietly. He shot her a grin that she returned. While he was… gone, the docs would take the samples they needed.

* * *

With no sense of transition, Miguel stood on a parade ground. He wore class B Dress Blues and he knew somehow that it was immaculate. He turned to salute the Orokin flag that hung from a flagpole nearby.

"Sergeant?" A voice called and he turned to see a young… he froze and then slowly nodded to the young woman standing in front of him in Battle Dress Utility uniform. "It is good to see you again, Gunny." Corporal Melinda Carver nodded to him. His gunner… looked good for a dead woman.

"Good to see you too, Corporal." Miguel said, reeling. He had known, intellectually, that she was dead. But he hadn't seen it happen. "I need to speak to the base commander."

"Of course." The Corporal nodded. "If you would follow me?" She turned and started off. Miguel followed, marveling at the simulation. It was… incredible. He could feel the heat on his uniform. He was already starting to sweat. She smiled at him, just a tad. "Really, Gunny. You look like you have seen a ghost."

"Very funny, Corporal." Miguel said, but his own mouth quirked. "Remind me to drop you for pushups."

"As long as I am not in Dress Blues, no problem Gunny." The Corporal replied as they walked. This place… Miguel felt his heart lurch as he saw the familiar sign over the main building's entrance. He ignored it.

"Where are they in training?" Miguel asked after they entered the building and the Corporal removed her cover as he removed his.

"Phase 2." The Corporal said mildly. "The Commander can brief you."

"You know the way it works, Corporal." The Gunny said with a snort. "If I want to know what is _supposed_ to be happening, I ask an officer. If I want what is _actually_ happening, I ask an NCO." The Corporal bit back a laugh at that.

"Yes, Gunny." The Corporal said quietly. "I have to say… I am glad you made it. We heard… some."

"Ups and downs, Corporal." Miguel shrugged. "Lots of downs. Now, recently, some ups. All we can do is what Marines always do."

The two NCOs spoke in unison. "Improvise, adapt, overcome."

"Oorah." Another voice had both looking to where an older woman in a class B uniform with major's insignia stood straight in a doorway. Her dark eyes matched her short hair and her glare was as the Gunny remembered with another pang. She had been in command of the Virginia base when… "Gunnery Sergeant Smith." She said crossly. "You are late."

"Traffic was a pain, Major Makenzie." The Gunny said, bracing. "No excuse."

"Dismissed, Corporal." The Major said as she turned and went into the office behind her. "Come in, Gunny." The Corporal paused for a moment, but then jerked into motion as Miguel snapped his head. "You can catch up on old times _later_. Yes, I saw that." The woman said without turning. "Go, Corporal. Get your butt in here, Gunny."

"Still got eyes in the back of your head, Major?" The Gunny asked as he walked into the office. "Or is there a mirror strategically placed in here somewhere?"

The Major was smiling as she sat at a desk, a mirror showing on the wall behind her. She shook her head.

"It is good to see you, Gunny." The major said with a smile that faltered. "We heard what happened."

"It's done, Ma'am." Miguel said as he braced to attention. "Gunnery Sergeant Miguel Smith reporting to the base commander as ordered." Being inside and not in his cover, he did not salute.

"Like that, huh Gunny?" Sympathy shone in the woman's eyes for a moment and then it was gone. "Welcome back to the fold, such as it is. For the moment anyway." She frowned. "You checking on Recruit Karen?"

"On all of them, Ma'am." Miguel said with a nod. "The docs promise me that the muscle memory will be encoded, but… You and I _both_ know what docs' promises are worth." His tone was sour and the major nodded.

Simply learning everything that it meant to be a Marine was not enough. A person had to have the training and reflexes down pat. Doing everything right the first time, every time was a literal lifesaver. You could learn to disassemble a rifle and shoot it from a book or holo. But try to do it blindfolded in real life after? Or fix a malfunction when people were shooting at you? Nope. Wouldn't work. The Marines had spent centuries perfecting the training, but it still took hands on with the actual gear to get it to the point where a Marine's equipment was literally part of him or herself. The docs said they had fixed that. He would believe it when he saw it.

"Come on, Gunny." The major sighed. "Most docs are not HQ. _Some_ of them have the sense God gave a houseplant. Not many, but _some_."

"Ma'am… if they can't encode the muscle memory, then we are all wasting our time and need to know." Miguel said with a wince. "If they _can_…" He sighed. "Then all of what we did seems… cheapened somehow, Ma'am."

"I know what you mean, Gunny." The Major nodded. "Boot Camp and OCS were long for a _reason_. They could have increased the pace, but it would have killed far more people." She shook her head. "That said… Needs must, Gunny." She sighed and the Gunny matched it.

"Needs must when the devil drives, yes Ma'am." Miguel replied. No one liked it but sometimes events compelled you to do something you would much rather not. They needed Marines and they needed Marines _now_. "What are your observations here, Ma'am?"

"It started as the usual cluster, Gunny." The major replied. "Lots of book learning mixed with a few people who had a clue. Luckily, we had a solid core of NCOs who kept the shenanigans to a minimum. First section is in Phase 2 now. They go on the range today. Want to observe?"

"If it won't interfere, Ma'am." Miguel said quietly. "K-3s?"

The Siminkov K-3 was the Marine's standard directed energy assault rifle. Lightweight and modular, it was a direct descendant of the AK-47 and M-16 weapons of the twentieth century. Instead of bullets though, it fired either flechettes or pulses of plasma like the cheap Corpus copy called the Dera. Absolutely devastating in trained hands, the weapon was efficient and easy to repair. Each could be customized with multiple attachments for different missions. Sensor packages, grenade launchers, _rocket_ launchers, lasers… The list went on and on. It was _not_ cheap. Each K-3 cost about approximately as many resources as 10 Braton rifles. But in Marine hands? _Every_ Marine was a rifleman first. _Lots_ of enemies had found out how good the Marines were with their preferred weapon to their dismay and cost. The other downside? It wasn't even _close_ to low tech and the Sentients had used that to their advantage.

"K-3s, Gunny. They go for range in…" The Major checked a chrono nearby and nodded. "Ten minutes. I was going to observe." She got up from her chair. "Coming, Gunny?"

"Wouldn't miss it, Major." The Gunny said as the major picked up her own cover and started for the door. He waited a breath and took a place a step behind her.

"You are not going to ask, are you?" The Major said as she led the way through the bustling headquarters. Miguel glanced at her but remained silent. "Geez, Gunny…" She griped. "I may be dead, but I am not _stupid_! That girl is…special, isn't she?"

"They are _all_ special, Ma'am." Miguel replied with just a hint of rebuke. The Major sent an incredulous glance his way but Miguel didn't react.

"Gunny, she is _good_. Better than me." The major said with a sigh. "Except for the psyche part, she has every _single_ other instructor wanting her to _teach_! Even the psyche people say she is getting a handle on her… problems. Somewhat." At that, Miguel glanced at her again and she grimaced. "I was briefed. So were the psyche guys. No one else."

"I thought she would have what it takes, Ma'am." Miguel said mildly. "But I have been fooled before."

"We all have, Gunny." They passed out of the building and took a bare moment to put their covers on. "You are a dang good judge though."

"Just experience, Major." Miguel followed the woman as she led the way towards a vehicle where a driver sat waiting. The Gunny's eyebrows rose as he saw it and the major smiled. "Major? That… isn't…?"

"One benefit of all this. We can get what we want in the way of vehicles." The major said with a grin as she slid into a seat and the Gunny seated himself. "Range." She commanded and the driver nodded before pulling away from the curb. "No, it isn't a Willy's Jeep, Gunny. Sure looks like one, doesn't it?"

"Yes, Ma'am." The Gunny's voice was reverent as he stroked one piece of the metal hull. "Sounds like the videos." He commented. He had been exposed to lots of history of the various Marine Corps that had become the Orokin Marines. The Willy's Jeep figured prominently in many of the twentieth century's conflicts.

"It was made from them, Gunny. It has better suspension." The major said with a smile. "Good thing. Even virtual, I doubt my kidneys could handle it."

"Have you had many problems, Ma'am?" the Gunny asked after a moment. "I mean… this had to be a shock."

"It was and… A few." The Major grimaced. "We all want to _fight_. It was what we were trained for. Just _sitting_ here while other people fight... grates on all of us, Gunny."

"Yes, Ma'am." The Gunny agreed quietly. "Fully understand that."

"How are _you_ doing, Gunny?" Her voice was suddenly a lot gentler. "You went through anyone's definition of hell."

"Coming back, Ma'am." Miguel said softly. "It was…rough. But I am coming back. Are… all of 73 Bravo here?"

"Yes, Gunny." The major replied. "They are busy, we needed armor techs and trainers. We got the specs on that ungodly abortion called 'Valkyrie' and are going over it. You could hear the laughter all the way down the hall." She said with a grin.

"_Almost_ the stupidest idea I have ever heard, ma'am." Migeul replied. "Unless…" He paused. "Ma'am, did that project ever involve Tenno?" The major looked at him and he winced. "I have dealt with Tenno quite a bit since I was rescued. I have worked on warframes." The major inhaled and Miguel nodded. "I still don't think it would work, the armor would be too thick and heavy if it were intended to be practical. But that wouldn't stop Marlena for a nanosecond." He tried to keep the hate out of his voice. He didn't succeed. "Reality, ethics… _none_ of that made any difference to her."

"Gunny…" The major said quietly.

"I know I am biased, Major." The Gunny said, taking a deep breath. "I apologize for the disrespect to an officer, but still…"

"Your point is noted, Gunny." She sighed and then shook her head as the jeep slowed. "Others made the same point. For right now, though… We have a _good_ thing to see." The Jeep stopped and the Gunny stepped out. The major followed quickly and both stepped to a guarded path through the reinforced berm. The guard there braced to attention. "As you were, private." The major said quietly. "The Gunny and I are here to observe."

"Yes, Ma'am." The private said, stepping aside. He paused as the Gunny shook his head.

"You gonna ID her, private?" Miguel said with a growl worthy of an old Earth Grizzly bear. The private went white and then resumed his place. "Good boy."

"ID, Ma'am?" The private's voice squeaked a bit, but he didn't move.

The Major produced her identification pad and handed it to the private who made a great show of scanning it before handing it back. The Gunny had his in hand and handed it to the private without query. The boy did the same and nodded to both.

"It checks out, ma'am, sergeant." The private said with a nod as he stepped aside. The gunny stalked forward, his eyes roving. The major was shaking her head as she followed.

"You _enjoyed_ that, Gunny." The major said in reproof mingled with humor.

"Virtual base or not, Ma'am, sloppiness is not to be tolerated." Miguel replied. His tone was perfectly respectful, of her anyway. "Not in the Corps." She just shook her head.

"Don't scare them too much, Gunny." The major warned as they crossed the berm and saw a group of marines setting up on a firing line. "There are limits." That was a command.

"Yes, Ma'am." He followed her as she took up position well behind the firing line. He shook his head at some of the shooters. They knelt at the firing line, but their postures… "Aw geez…" The major looked at him and he winced. "You _gotta_ be kidding me, Ma'am…" Just _looking_ at them…

"They _just_ started Phase 2, Gunny." She replied. "They will get better." The Staff Sergeant running the range looked at them and she shook her head. "Carry on, Sergeant Jules. We are observing."

"Yes, Ma'am." The sergeant replied and turned back to his range. "Ready on the right?" He called. No one replied and he spoke again. "Ready on the left?" Again, no response. "You may commence firing."

As soon as they did, Miguel winced even worse. Even Major Makenzie winced a bit. The fire was… sporadic. Some of the recruits were putting rounds on target. Not many. One of the recruits had his trigger held down for long seconds and was spewing rounds everywhere _but_ his target.

"Permission to keep that dumb fool from killing someone, Ma'am?" Miguel said with a sigh as the line kept missing. Major Mackenzie shrugged and looked at the range master whose face was… a study. The two corporals who had been serving as range guides had taken cover from the badly directed fire. "Permission to enter the range, range master?" He didn't –quite- scream.

"Go for it, Gunny." The staff sergeant was trying to hide a smile, and mostly succeeded.

"_Cease fire!_" The Gunny's voice thundered across the range as he strode forward. The fire slacked off, but did not stop and the Gunny's face became terrible to behold. "_I said 'Cease Fire' you silly twits! The next person to pull that trigger is gonna give me two hundred to show they can __**obey**__ fracking orders! Cease Fucking fire! __**Now**__ damnit!_"

The firing finally died and he snarled again. His snarl carried and more than one recruit paled as they saw _every_ Marine's _worst_ nightmare stalking towards them. An _aggravated_ Gunnery Sergeant. He stepped to the line and towered over the recruit who had been blazing away.

"What is your _name_, recruit?" Miguel snarled. He was proud of his snarl. On occasion, he had literally scared _himself_ with it. The white faced recruit swallowed hard. "I am _waiting_, recruit."

"Ah…" The recruit stammered and looked around, but no one else wanted to incur Miguel's wrath.

"_Ah?_ Your name is '_Ah'_?" Miguel demanded, incredulous. Someone snickered and Miguel's snarled again as he pointed to the side, spearing the recruit who had snickered. "You, three from the left! Drop and give me _twenty_ for disrespecting an NCO! _Now_!" The Marine cleared his weapon, laid it down carefully and then dropped and started counting out pushups. "Anyone _else_ find me _funny_?" He inquired in an icily polite tone as he glared across the range. No one dared move. "What is your _name_, Recruit?" He said with a glower. The recruit started to rise and the gunny waved to keep him in place. "No, no. Stay down there. We are going to have some… _quality_ time. Name! Now!"

"Gunnery Sergeant, this recruit's name is Brinks, Gunnery Sergeant!" The recruit said sharply.

"Very well, Recruit Brinks." Miguel's tone was quiet, but carried easily to the whole range. "Would you mind telling me what the _hell_ you were doing with that fine piece of Orokin military hardware you were firing? You fired off most of your _magazine_ and hit all kinds of _shit _that _wasn't_ your _target_." His tone was somewhere between incredulity and derision.

"Sergeant, the weapon is messed up, Sergeant." The recruit said and then gave a gasp as Miguel tore the rifle right out of his hands. A quick glance at the Staff Sergeant showed the man smiling and Miguel tracked on Recruit Brink's target. Less than fifty meters was child's play for the Gunny. Miguel fired quickly and efficiently, each shot where he wanted it. Dead center of the head on the humanoid holo that served as a target. After four shots, he safetied the weapon and held it back out to the recruit. More than one recruit was goggling at him. Brinks almost looked like he wanted to cry. Or curl up under a rock somewhere.

"Nothing wrong with that _weapon_, Recruit Brinks." Miguel snapped with a glower as he got right into the recruit's face. He did _not_ raise his voice, and that was somehow _worse_. "You hold the dual stage trigger down, then yes, you _will_ go full auto on a Siminkov K-3. Since it fires either caseless 5 _millimeter_ flechettes _or_ directed energy _packets_ of plasma projected by _magnetic_ induction, there is _some_ recoil. On full auto, you have _more_ recoil. You have a hundred rounds in the clip and you _will_ empty it in less than twenty seconds of sustained fire. And you ain't gonna hit _shit!_" He backed up a step and shook the weapon at the now shuddering recruit. He snarled again. "Take it boy. _Now_."

The recruit took it with a gulp, checking to see it was on safe before pointing the muzzle in a safe direction. Miguel was pleased that he had _that_ down.

"Next person I see 'Spray and Pray' is going to be doing pushups until the _stars go cold!_" Miguel snapped. "_Do I make myself __**clear**__, Recruits?_"

"Gunnery Sergeant!" A chorus came from all around and Miguel smiled thinly. "You are _clear_, Gunnery Sergeant!"

"All right." He said in a milder tone. "Then let's see if you all can do it the _Marine_ _Corps_ way. As in you _hit_ what you _aim_ at. Take a kneeling posture, Recruit Brinks and _this_ time, _don't_ hold the fucking _trigger_ down…"

* * *

**Never EVER irritate a Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant. It will hurt. Or you will WISH it did.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Psychological warfare**

Miguel bit back a wince as the couch he was sitting on reclined. He wanted to sit up. He hated being out of control. But he was a Marine. He knew the score here. The light's dimmed a little. They were still far too bright. This particular virtual test was something Miguel had always detested. He hated being out of control.

"How is that, Gunnery Sergeant?" A cheery female voice asked him and he tried not to snap at it. "Too bright?"

"I am good." Miguel tried not to sigh. He hated this part too.

"Not true." A calm voice sounded from the other side and Miguel did not turn to glare at the white coated Marine doc who sat there. "Again?"

"I consider you docs capable for combat operations." Miguel said without a hint of a smile and the doc snorted.

"Come on, Gunny…" The man said with a sigh. "Give us a lie that doesn't _sound_ like a lie. We have to calibrate this stuff."

"Okay." Miguel closed his eyes. "I think the HQ plan for the Valkyrie project was… slightly misguided."

"Whoa!" The woman said with a gulp. "Right off the charts!"

"Okay, we are calibrated." The male doc said with a nod. "Gunnery Sergeant Miguel Smith, this is your psychological evaluation by the Orokin Marine Corps. Virtual simulation 109876-G54-E. Evaluators are Captain Houlihan and Lieutenant Pierce."

"Are those your real names?" Miguel asked sourly." I know I have heard them somewhere before."

"What are you feeling right now, Gunny?" The male doctor did not answer Miguel's question. Not that they would. This was an evaluation of Miguel, not the docs. "Right this moment."

"Annoyed." Miguel said calmly. "I got better things to do than sit on my ass."

"And why are you annoyed?" The doc had his face glued to a screen, scrutinizing something to do with the levels in Miguel's brain.

"I have things I need to do." Miguel said sharply. He felt… odd, but again, that was normal for this kind of eval. They would push him until he cracked. "Wars don't take holidays and I am needed."

"You have done more than anyone could have possibly expected." The doc's soothing tone set Miguel's teeth on edge, deliberately. "What did it feel like to be out of control? To be literally a slave of a psychotic Tenno?"

"Pure unmitigated hell." Miguel said as calmly as he could.

"And when you were rescued?" The woman asked. "What then?"

"What do you mean, what then?" Miguel fought the rage that was building. He had to. "I was kind of at loose ends. Every channel I looked for, there was nothing. No other survivors."

"You did not identify yourself to your rescuers as a Marine." The doc said quietly. "Why not?"

"I wasn't sure they _were_ rescuers at first." Miguel replied, striving for and achieving a semblance of calm. "Then…? They needed the help."

"_Tenno_ needed help?" The female doc sounded incredulous. "_Tenno_ killed your entire team!"

"_Renegade_ Tenno." Miguel corrected her carefully. "Karl and his people are not renegades. Wasn't sure at first. But they are not."

"But still, Tenno." The woman said quickly. "That Volt in particular killed almost every tank in your platoon."

"He paid for it." Miguel said, fighting the anger back again. "He was enslaved by an Orokin tower. He ain't ever leaving that place."

"Actually…" The male doc said slowly. "A Saryn was present and destroyed two of your platoon's tanks." Miguel went still, he hadn't known that.

"I don't believe you." Miguel said, still focusing on calm. "Poisons, no matter how corrosive, wouldn't eat through armor without long contact."

"They didn't." The woman said sadly. "One of them cut the dorsal hatches open and she threw her poisons inside." Miguel glared at her and she shrugged. "It's in the record. How do you feel about her surviving and being on Avalon?"

"Poetic justice." Miguel retorted, his teeth clenching despite his best efforts. The subharmonics were getting to him as well as the drug they had given him just before starting this.

"How can it be _justice_ when your friends are _dead_?" The doc said sharply and then recoiled as Miguel lost his battle and surged up in the chair, snarling like a stepped on badger. "_End it!_"

Suddenly, Miguel felt ease flow through him and he relaxed as the drug was countered, the bright lights dimmed further and the subharmonics deactivated.

"Holy… _shit_… I hate that…" Miguel said as he sank into the couch. "Well?" He asked the doc, gasping for breath.

"You are within parameters, Gunnery Sergeant." The male doc said softly. "I apologize for…" He trailed off as Miguel waved a weak hand at him. The stress test was a pain in the butt, but needed.

"The _last_ thing we need is _me_ going nuts, doc." Miguel said through gradually deepening breaths. "How… sure?"

"We cannot be totally certain, Gunnery Sergeant." The male doc wasn't equivocating, simply speaking fact. "But all of your readings match our files. Right smack in the middle of where your levels are supposed to be." He shrugged. "Not one hundred percent, as you say, but close. Dang close."

"Good." Miguel said with a sigh. "Now I need your honest opinion. Recruit Karen."

"Oh." The doc waved to his coworker. She nodded and left the room. "Gunny, she is a mess." Miguel just looked at him and the doc grimaced. "She didn't have Marine training. She has broken before. The repairs are…good." The doc sounded grudging but then continued. "But I only consider her marginal."

"That is what I was afraid of." Miguel's tone was sober. "She is one tough kid, but… She was _only_ a kid. They took her, hurt her and then abused her repeatedly. She bounced back. Hell, she bounced back better than some _Marines_ I have known." The doc nodded and Miguel continued. "But this last time… She broke hard." Miguel shook his head. "Is there _any_ way to help her?"

"We have done what we can, Gunny." The doc's voice was sad now. "She is trying. I will give her that. She is trying very hard. But the sheer pain she is experiencing is enough to put any of us who link to her on the _floor_." Miguel nodded again and the doc made a face. "There is… one possibility."

"Yes?" Miguel asked slowly.

"It's above my pay grade." The doc said quietly. "If she could confront the one who took control from her..." Miguel's eyes narrowed and the doc nodded. "Give her a concrete reason for her hurts and she might lash out. If she does that…We can work with that. Get her to open up. Get her to focus on healing."

"Doc?" Miguel spoke softly, carefully. "Honest opinion? Would it work?"

"Honestly…" The doc seemed to wilt. "I don't know. She is right on the edge. I put the odds at fifty-fifty that she either beats the _snot_ out of whoever did it to her _or_ she curls into a ball and doesn't come out. If she does lash out… we can work with that. If she doesn't…" He sighed. "She is a good kid, Gunny. I hate seeing good kids messed up like that."

"Yeah she is." Miguel rose from the couch and stretched. "I will talk with the Major. Even if you can't help doc… Thanks for trying."

"It doesn't help much." The doc said as he turned back to his readouts, but Miguel could see the pain on his face.

Miguel nodded and exited the room. Just outside, Corporal Carver waited.

"Still stuck as shepherd?" Miguel asked slyly as he started off towards the base commander's office. He knew this building well. He had spent years living and working in the confines of what this virtual simulation as based on. "What did you do to tick off the Major, Corporal?"

"I volunteered, Gunny." The BDU clad female Marine said calmly as she followed. "We all did. She made us draw straws. I won."

"I am sorry, Corporal Carver." Miguel's felt the pain well up inside him as he hadn't let it during his psyche evaluation. "I knew that mission was going to be bad, but I had no idea it would be _that_ bad. Or that I would survive."

"We don't know how you did, Gunny." The Corporal said softly. "The hatches were locked. I was out like a light when the Volt hit us. None of the others have a clue what happened. Do you?"

"No." Miguel grunted. "Woke up on the ground, hurt. Not sure I want to know, Corporal. Not sure if I ran or not."

"Gunny, all our hatches were locked." Carver said quietly. "You wouldn't have left us." She smiled bit forlornly. "For what it is worth, I am glad you survived even with everything bad that happened. It is good to see you, Gunny."

"You start crying and I will call the shrinks on _you_, Corporal." Miguel said with a grin. Corporal Carver jerked back, her hands up in a warding gesture and her face comically horrified. "But it is good to be back. Even virtual." He glanced at her. "Who is in charge here, Corporal? Major Mackenzie is commander of the base, but who is running the simulation?"

"Ah… I can't say, Gunny." The Corporal said quickly. Miguel paused and would have spoken, but they arrived at the Major's office. The corporal rapped on the door.

"Come in." The major sounded tired and Miguel nodded to her as he entered. "Odd how even virtual beings get tired, huh Gunny?"

"Not odd at all if the person running things wants to make the training as realistic as possible, Major." Miguel said with a nod. The major looked at him sharply and he nodded. "Took me a while to figure it out, Ma'am. Is she here?'

"Ah…" The major looked uncomfortable and Miguel could sympathize. But…

"Karen is not doing so well, Ma'am." Miguel said quietly and both females nodded. "The docs think a shock is the best chance of bringing her out of her shell. They give it fifty-fifty that she will come out of her shell. Or curl up deeper. If that happens, Major…" He shook his head.

"I'll kick it upst-" The major's words stopped in mid-syllable and Miguel nodded. She had frozen, totally still. As Miguel looked around, he saw Corporal Carver standing with her hand halfway to the doorknob to exit and close it. Someone had stopped the simulation. A form appeared nearby.

"You going to kick me, Gunny?" The Mag Prime asked calmly.

"I want to." Miguel said, keeping his cool with effort. "I really, _really_ want to. But Karen is the important one here. Not me."

"You really think it will help her?" Mag –the _First_ Mag- asked calmly.

"What do _you_ care?" Miguel asked coldly. "You got what you wanted. I was knocked out of my rut. But you _destroyed_ that poor girl."

"I broke her, yeah." Mag was…too calm. Miguel's eyes narrowed and she nodded. "She needed the push. And if she can't hack it? Better to know now. And you of all people know that what is broken can be reformed stronger." Miguel just glared at her. "I have been glared at by lots of professionals, Gunny. You are good, you are not Hayden." The first Mag shrugged.

"I don't care." Miguel said with a snap. "That girl didn't deserve what you did to her."

"The Marines will be needed, Gunny." Mag said quietly. "Now more than ever."

"You didn't need _me_." Miguel said with a grunt. He looked away at the frozen major and corporal. "Tenno can fight better than the Marines ever could. Now, with so many of them waking from cryo, you don't need me. Or us." His eyes narrowed again. "Why?"

"Why what?" The female Tenno asked.

"Why _now_?" Miguel wasn't asking Mag, indeed, he was staring off into space. "_You_ suggested Class A's didn't you? You _knew_ what would happen, didn't you?"

"The Marines are needed." Mag was calm. Far too calm. Something was off.

"Why are the Marines needed?" Miguel demanded. "I have the right to know."

"The right?" Mag asked softly. "Maybe. The need to know? No."

"Fine." Miguel said with a snarl as he reached for his shoulder. He grasped his insignia and tore it off, tossing it to the ground at the Mag's feet. "Fuck you. Fuck your plots. Fuck your plans, your toys and _everything_ else you want. You are _not_ a Marine! You never _were!_" He snarled at the Mag who stared at him. "Get the FUCK out of my life, you arrogant Tenno BITCH!" He spun in place and left the room at a brisk walk.

"You are wrong, Gunny." Mag's voice came from close behind him. He didn't turn. "I was trying to _help!_"

"Bullshit!" Miguel snapped, not even looking. "It was that damned game! You were playing the game with Marines, weren't you?"

"I… don't blame you for thinking that, Gunny." Mag still sounded as if she were right behind him. "But that is not true."

"Kiss my ass." The Gunny growled as he exited the building, slipping his cover on automatically. "Whatever the hell you are going to do, you can do it without _me_!"

"Gunny!" Mag begged. "We need you!"

"You need a _proctologist_!" Miguel said as he moved to the flagpole, the spot where the docs had said he would exit the simulation. Nothing happened and he sighed. "Still jamming the signals?"

"Gunny, let me _explain_!" Mag sounded angry now.

"What is to explain?" Miguel didn't raise his voice, but the intensity went through the roof. "You screwed with my life and the life of someone I cared about. She was a kid, Mag! Just a _kid!_ And you FUCKED her!" He spun to see the Mag not three steps away, her stance wary. "Give me _one_ good reason for breaking her! One!"

"The only way to build someone up properly is to tear down what was there before." Mag said slowly. "She has what it takes."

"That wasn't _your_ call!" Miguel fought with his own rising anger. This wasn't the psyche test. He had no chance against a Tenno in a warframe. He was rapidly ceasing to _care_. "Last I checked the Marines were supposed to be a _volunteer_ organization. Not _conscripts_! That is what you did! _Conscripted_ her!"

"I…" Mag sounded stunned. "No… That isn't… It wasn't…"

"We may have one chance to make this right, you arrogant Tenno BITCH." Miguel's voice turned cold. "You spit on everything Marines were supposed to be. The few, the proud, the _slaves_? Get her here. _Now_."

"No need." Major Makenzie's quiet voice had both Mag and the Gunny turning. Hundreds of forms stood near the building. Some in class A uniforms, some in BDUs, some in service uniforms. All with the _same_ look of disgust as they looked at Mag who wilted. "Recruit Karen, front and center."

A motion from nearby caught the eye as Karen stepped out of the mass of recruits who stood silent. Watching. Karen marched to where the major stood and saluted.

"Major. Recruit Karen reporting as ordered, Major." Karen said firmly. The major returned the salute.

"Gunny?" The major said, glancing at Miguel. "Your show."

"I want an explanation." Miguel tamped his anger down carefully. "She _deserves_ an explanation. Orokin Marines have always been _volunteers_. That is the basis of what we _were_. What we _are_. We _chose_ to do this. All of this. Look her in the face, Mag and tell her why." The intensity of the Gunny's rage rang around the parade ground. "Do it now, or I _will_ kick your _ass_ the way you so richly deserve!"

"You can't beat me, Gunny." Mag was trying for calm too.

"_Try me_." Miguel stepped right up into her personal space and leaned forward. "_Please._"

"Gunny." Major Makenzie's voice was calm. He jerked back and nodded slowly. The major waited until he took another step back before speaking again. "Recruit Karen, this is the one who took control of you." Karen was shaking as she faced the major. "What do you want?" The older female Marine asked.

"Face your fears, girl." Miguel's voice was almost subvocal. Karen looked at him and then nodded to the major.

"P… Permission… to…" Karen broke off, her face working.

"Take it easy, Recruit Karen." Major Makenzie said calmly. "You are not alone. I don't think you would lack for volunteers to help you beat the crap of this Tenno. Who would help her?" _Every_ uniformed right hand in the ranks shot up at that, Miguel's and the Major's included. "See?" The humor in her tone had Karen smile a little. "Get to it, Recruit."

"Major, yes, Major." Karen spun on her heel and marched with reasonable skill to where Mag stood frozen. "Why?" She asked. "You wanted me to stop Miguel. I can…" She swallowed hard, fighting for control. "I can understand that. He is good man. A good Marine. I was getting through."

"Not fast enough." Mag's voice was cold now. "He would have killed himself before you got off your ass." More than one of the watchers looked at Miguel, but he kept his eyes on Mag.

"That was _his_ choice." Karen said, a glimmer of her old fire starting to show. "Not _yours!_ All the pain he suffered, all the loss, _all the crap_…" She was fighting herself now. That was clear. "_Where the hell were you when he was being tortured? When they… When they tried to __**breed **__**me**__…"_ A horrified gasp went around the ranks, but they were Marines. They held those ranks. _"Where the FUCK were you?"_ She screamed.

"I couldn't interfere, Karen." Mag's voice was calm, but held rage matching Karen's. "All I could do was watch. And weep." She shook her head and her faceplate retracted. The black face inside the helmet had tears falling. "The renegades will pay through _eternity_ for they did to you, to Gunny Miguel, to _everyone_ else they hurt. But it _isn't_ _enough_." Karen looked at her and Mag shook her head. "You needed a new beginning." Mag's voice was calm now and her eyes were clear as she face Karen's wrath. "And the Marines could _give_ you one. A fresh start. A clean slate. A new… hope for the future."

"I don't understand." Karen said weakly. "Why would you do that?"

"Because before I was Tenno, _I_ was a Marine."

* * *

**((Yep she was. US Marine. See 'The First: Gathering'))**


	9. Chapter 9

**Brothers in Arms**

"You…"

For a long moment, there was dead silence on the parade ground. Then the hum of whispered conversation started only to end abruptly as the Gunny cleared his throat.

"I don't understand." Karen wasn't quite begging, but her ashen face was paler than it had been. Miguel moved to stand a bit closer, just in case.

"I was a United States Marine. I was exposed to the Technocyte Virus, Karen." Mag said quietly. "After… I joined Hayden Tenno and others to hold back the horrors of the Technocyte Virus. To keep humanity safe from it. That was, and is my duty. But in my heart, as jaded and bitter as it became, I was always a Marine."

"But…" Karen was shaking her head, confused. "You are Tenno."

"The two are not mutually exclusive, Karen. Part of me will always be a Marine." Mag nodded to Miguel. "Semper Fidelis. You needed a boot to the butt."

"You were not loyal to _her_." Miguel growled.

"She wasn't a Marine." Mag said with a shrug. "If she passes Boot Camp, then yes, she is a sister. Until then?" She scoffed. "She is little _girl_ playing-"

Whatever else she was going to say was cut off by Karen's _punch_. A shout of 'Oorah!" went around the ranks. Karen may not have been in a warframe, but she did _not_ lack for guts. What she lacked in skill, she made up for in rage. She wasn't a master swordswoman, or a professional sniper, but she _did_ know how to fight. She was inside Mag's guard before the Tenno even realized she was moving. More than one Marine in the audience gasped as Mag was literally knocked off her feet by Karen's charge.

"_I. Am. Not. Your. Slave!_" Karen punctuated each screamed word with fist and foot strikes. "I will not _be_ your slave!" But then… She was writhing, twisting, trying to fight as Mag rose, holding Karen out at arm's length. The Tenno wagged a finger at Karen with an evil chuckle and pulled her other fist back, but paused as a throat cleared nearby.

"You touch her again and I will do my damndest to kill you." Miguel said sharply. A murmur of assent went through the ranks. A hungry murmur. "Put her down. Now."

"You do not command me, Gunny." Mag laughed scornfully. "And all of you…"

"Mag." The dark haired man in worn civilian attire who had just appeared nearby stood calmly. "Put her down. _Now_." The bite in his words had more than one Marine jerking.

"Hayden… I…" Mag said with a gulp.

"Put. _Her_. _**Down**_." The First Tenno commanded, his eyes flashing. Mag released Karen who landed on her tail and scuttled away, her eyes flicking from Mag to the now incandescently _furious_ First Tenno. "Of all the… _stupid_…" He sighed deeply. "So… Karen being a _Marine_ was more important than her being _kin_. Good to know." His voice held sorrow mixed with rage.

"It's not like that…" Mag protested, the only hint of Karen's attack a bruise on her face that was rapidly fading as her warframe healed her.

"No?" Hayden asked, his tone icy. "Then explain how it was a good idea for you to slip the leash and find Karen when we told you it was _Miguel's_ choice." Karen stared from the First Tenno to Mag and back. "And taking _control_ of her… Mag, Mag…" He chided her. "You seriously pissed Nyx off, Mag… Seriously." Mag paled and he smiled coldly. "I am halfway tempted to _leave_ you here. Strip you out of the warframe and _leave_ you here to 'explain' to these fine Marines _why_ you abused Karen the same way _Nicholas_ did. It would be _more appropriate_ than what _Nyx_ wants to do."

"I _didn't_!" Mag protested, her face even more pale.

"You took control from me." Karen said softly as she rose to her feet, dabbing at a cut lip. "The same thing _he_ did. Different reason maybe, but the _same_ thing. You hijacked my body without even a 'by your leave'."

"I was trying to help!" Mag protested. "Please! I was trying to help!" Hayden shook his head and she slumped a bit. But…

"First Tenno?" Karen said softly. "May I speak?"

"I don't know." Hayden said with the ghost of smile. "May you?" Karen smiled a bit at his wry tone but nodded.

"Making mistakes is how we learn, yes?" Karen asked him and he pursed his lips, but nodded. "I am very, very angry at what she did. But…" She took a deep breath and smiled a bit forlornly. "Miguel is alive. I am alive. I think… I think I can forgive what she did. Maybe not _forget_, but forgive."

"What she did demands punishment, Karen." Hayden said with a frown. "It is…noble of you to forgive her after she abused you like that. But… She broke the rules." Mag wilted a bit.

"Do the rules say 'how' she is supposed to be punished?" Miguel asked into the silence that fell.

"Usually left up to the one who was injured." Hayden said with a shrug. "Karen?"

"If she wasn't in her warframe, I would beat the crap out of her." Karen snapped. Everything stopped as Hayden laughed and _snapped his fingers_. Suddenly where the Mag Prime warframe _had_ been standing, a tall black woman in ancient looking green camouflage BDUs stood, her eyes wide.

"Have at." Hayden said with an evil grin. "You are the _only_ viscous one, Mag. _I_ know better than to cross _Marines_."

"You can't beat me alone, Karen!" Mag smiled coldly, her hands coming up in a guard position.

"Well, then it is a good thing she is _not_ alone." Miguel cracked his knuckles as he strode to stand by Karen. Suddenly, the tall black woman looked a _lot_ less confident as _several_ other forms in uniform moved to stand by the pair of Marines. "What you say _all_? This woman seems to think she can dishonor our sister in arms and get away with it." A hungry growl answered him.

"Hayden!" Mag pleaded as the ring of Marines closed in.

"What?" Hayden asked as he moved to stand by Major Mackenzie who was smiling coldly. "I am not _stupid_ enough to get between Marines and someone they don't _like_."

Then it was all chaos as Karen charged, the Marines swarming at her back.

* * *

"That was _fun_." Karen said with a smile as Miguel helped her towards the infirmary. She had a nosebleed and one arm was held close to her chest. Miguel didn't like the way she was favoring one side, but she and the battered Marines who walked round her were in far better shape than the BDU clad form they had left to lie on the parade ground. "That was…" She shook her head. "Permission to pass out, Gunnery Sergeant?"

"Denied, Recruit Karen." Miguel said as he took more of her weight on himself. "Besides, Marines do not 'pass out'. We engage the _floor_ in mortal combat!"

Everyone laughed and Miguel was smiling until they entered the infirmary. The nurses and docs there took hold of Karen quickly and rushed her off. Only when he was sure she was in good hands did the Gunny nod to the other Marines who grinned at him. Then he left the building. He strode back to where the still form lay on the parade ground and sighed.

"You can stop faking." He said flatly. The woman did not move. "Come off it, Tenno. Who controls the settings here?"

"Hayden does…" The woman gasped in apparent pain. "Feel better, Gunny?"

"A mite." Miguel said with a nod. "Still mad, but… She is out of her shell. The rest is up to her."

"The Marines are needed, Gunny." Mag said as she rolled onto her back. Her face was a mask of bruises but Miguel didn't even flinch. This wasn't real.

"Even Avalon hasn't got the infrastructure to support more than a company of Marines." Miguel said with a scowl. "Housing, feeding, arming… All that. No one else has the resources that Avalon does. So whatever plot is conniving around in your twisted little heart, leave us _out_ of it."

"No plot, Gunny." Mag said sadly. "Semper Fi." He just looked at her and shook his head. Then he walked to the flagpole.

* * *

**Avalon**

"Did you… really…?" Michelle's voice was awed as Miguel woke up and groaned bit. "Beat the crap out of the First Mag?"

"That wasn't real." Miguel said with a scowl as he sat up. "Did you get what you needed?" He asked the doctors nearby.

"Yes, sergeant." The doctors sounded equally odd and Miguel shook his head.

"That was to pull Karen out of her shell." Miguel said with a shrug. "That Tenno was faking."

"Not…according to our readings…" The doctor said with a wince. Miguel looked at him and the doc swallowed hard. "We can read energy forms. She was… um…had quite a bit of degradation of her primary host." Miguel rolled his eyes and the docs sighed. "In layman's terms, she was in significant pain."

"Was she?" Miguel asked coldly. "Good." Michelle looked at him and he shrugged. "After what she did to Karen? Oh yeah, she deserved it."

"No argument here, Gunny." Michelle said with a grin as she extended a hand that he took to pull himself out of the chair. "Let's go check that armory." Miguel shook himself a bit as she started off and then he followed her. "I read a bit about the Marines, but actually seeing it… You are different." Her tone was considered. The two Tenno, the Mag Prime and the Rhino Prime stood just outside. Both seemed… more respectful now. If that was possible.

"We did things differently." Miguel agreed. "In the end, all we could really rely on was each other. The bureaucrats and politicos might screw us. HQ might screw us. The enemy tried their best to kill us. But we were not alone. I think that is what Karen really needed. To know in her heart that there were people who would charge into a fire with her. Who would not let her down. Karl's clan would not, but she could not see it. She was too close. This will allow her to see clearer."

"A good thing." Michelle smiled as they walked. "The docs are saying they might want to slow the simulation a bit." Miguel looked at her. "They say the muscle memory is coding, but it isn't keeping up with the virtual training."

"Knew it was too good to be true." Miguel shrugged. He sighed philosophically. "Even if all that happens is Karen comes out with her head on straighter… Well, that is better than it was."

"It's going to be more than _that_, sergeant." Michelle laughed lightly. "Maybe not the full package, but a bit more than just information. And if they _think_ like Marines? Will they just let themselves _rot_?"

"Good point, Princess." Miguel said with a tight grin as they walked. "Yeah, I guess I can see that. Still, it would take time to work up."

"It's going to take time to get the _quarters_ set up, Sergeant." Michelle frowned. "I never really realized just exactly _how_ strapped for resources a place could be until I got here. Ah…here we are." A locked door opened and she nodded to a door ahead marked with the Orokin Marine Corps insignia. She went still as Miguel did.

"Princess, step back. Now." The sergeant said as he stared at the door. "Tenno, can you quietly order an evac of the closest areas?"

"We can." Petra said, tensing. "But we need a reason."

"Someone has tried to access the armory." Miguel said quietly. "The self-destruct is armed. See the lights on the panel?" Michelle stared at the red lights that shone and Miguel nodded. Both Tenno moved in front of Michelle and Miguel nodded. "Stay here."

"How big?" Michelle asked, staring at the lights. "This corridor hasn't been accessed in a long, long time."

"I don't know how big." Miguel took slow step and then another. "Some were simple slagging charges. Others were a bit more substantial."

"How _much_ more substantial?" Petra demanded.

"You don't want to know." Miguel replied and focused on the panel ahead. The lights were steady, not blinking and he took a deep breath. "Armory systems, this is Gunnery Sergeant Miguel Smith, Orokin Marine Corps. Systems status?"

"Error." A disembodied voice stated. "No such user in databank."

"Oh crap." They had probably removed his codes when he had been declared MIA. Miguel shook his head. "Armory systems, Code Juliet Seven, Marine Corps authorized presence. Data available. Request permission to upload."

"Denied." The computer running the armory wasn't all that bright. "No such user on file. Withdraw immediately."

"Armory systems!" Michelle said calmly. "Override beta sixteen. Identify current speaker."

"Current speaker is Michelle, Princess of Orokin." The AI sounded a bit confused now and Miguel couldn't blame it.

"And is a Princess of Orokin allowed to update data files?" Michelle was still calm. Miguel was sweating. He wasn't sure if that would work or not. The Empress could, sure. A Princess?

"Authorization… accepted." The AI replied. "Upload when ready."

"Designate representative…" Michelle stated clearly. "Miguel, Gunnery Sergeant, Orokin Marine Corps. Acknowledge?"

"This unit has no such…" The Machine's voice was cut off.

"Do _not_ disrespect the Princess of Orokin, you _stupid bag of bolts_! If you were not a machine you would be doing pushups from now until _doomsday_!" Miguel snapped and then clamped his mouth shut. Both of the Tenno hissed, and Michelle stared at him.

"Gunnery Sergeant… identified." Did the machine's voice sound… uneasy? "Upload when ready." Miguel stepped to a wall where a panel slid aside and showed a slot that he placed his ID in. "Upload verified, Gunnery Sergeant."

"Thank you." Miguel said with a nod as the port slid his ID back to him. "Status of armory?"

"Self-destruct charge online after attempted access." The AI replied. "Time records unclear. Contents undamaged."

"Can you deactivate self-destruct on my say so or do you need me to get the Empress down here?" Miguel said with a sigh. "I can, but if if I _do_, she is likely to be irritated."

"This unit will take your word, Gunnery Sergeant." The armory AI replied. It sounded…a bit sheepish.

"Well, well, well… A smart AI." A chuckle came from one of the Tenno, but Miguel just kept his eyes on the panel as red lights turned off and green ones came on. "Good." Miguel stepped forward. "Princess, it's clear now."

"Armory systems…" Princess Michelle asked slowly as she stepped forward, both Tenno still in front of her. "What _size_ is the self-destruct on this armory?"

"This armory is equipped with a MK4892 demolition charge." Miguel shook his head but Michelle looked blank.

"How… big…?" Michelle asked weakly. "I mean, demo is boom of course. But I don't know that one."

"A MK4892 was meant to take down hardened enemy bunkers, Princess." Miguel said with a shrug as he stepped forward to key in his codes. "It is a ten kiloton nuke." Michelle paled and the Gunny nodded. "Whoever put this here _really_ wanted it secure."

"That would have taken out most of the _station_." Petra sounded like Michelle looked. "Who the _hell_ put that here? And _when_?"

"This armory was placed at the orders of the reigning Orokin Emperor when the facility was constructed." The AI said calmly. "It was used by the Marine Honor Guard until they were disbanded."

"The Honor Guard?" Miguel asked slowly. "That was… what? Six hundred years before the Collapse?" Petra nodded. "I hope it's not just ceremonial weapons…" He murmured.

"The Honor Guard was a fully functional combat unit, Gunnery Sergeant." The AI sounded a bit prim now. "They only accepted veterans."

"I know that." Miguel growled. "My question is…" He paused as the large hatch opened and his eyes went wide at what he saw. "Holy… shit..."

"_Wonderful_ things…" Michelle said, awestruck at what was revealed. Both Tenno seemed stunned as well.

It wasn't a simple armory. It wasn't a locker filled with guns. It wasn't a _set_ of lockers filled with weapons of various kinds. It was _many_ lockers filled to the brim with all kinds of things Marine related. Uniforms, armor, weapons, packs, life support gear, medical gear… Miguel stepped in and stared around.

"This is… a cache." Miguel said in awe. "A prepositioned cache. This is…" He froze and stood, just staring as another door opened in the near distance showing… "What…? That is an M358." He said, breathing hard.

"A _tank?_" Michelle asked, dazed.

"Light tank/tank destroyer. 2 man crew. Heavy plasma gun. From before the Sentients came." Miguel corrected her absently. He shook himself. "Armory systems, note two Tenno presences. They are authorized as well."

"Understood, Gunnery Sergeant." The systems responded. "How may this system serve?"

"Who has been updating these?" Miguel asked after a moment. "This is… state of the art… for my time. Way after the Honor Guard was disbanded."

"This unit was programmed to upgrade all systems as newer models came into service." The AI replied. "The manufactory systems in this unit received periodic updates until loss of communication with Earth based archives."

"Well." Miguel had a wide smile on his face now. "Good news and _better_ news…" Michelle looked at him and he shrugged. "None of this stuff would work for Tenno, I don't think." Petra and Ghafoor shook their heads in unison.

"We have our own armory." Petra said, as stunned as the others. "Most of this… wouldn't work for us. We _could_ use it but…Not efficiently."

"Well, the good news, Princess…" Miguel nodded to Michelle who tore her eyes off the tank destroyer to meet his gaze. "The first company or so of Marines you graduate won't need to draw on Avalon's resources to arm and equip." He paused. "How much ammunition is stored here?" A display lit up nearby and he gawked as he read it. "Oh… I see…"

"What?" Michelle asked, concerned.

"Anyone equipped from here is not going to run out of ammo for a long, long time." Miguel said with a shake of his head. "And… Better news? I see what I need." He stepped towards a walk in locker marked 'Drop'. "Been while since I last did an orbit drop." Miguel said with a grin as Michelle hissed. "But it's like riding a bike."

"A bike that drops you from _orbit_… _without_ a _parachute_." Michelle said with a wince.

"Yep. That's the fun part."


	10. Chapter 10

**Infiltration**

"And I thought _pilots_ were crazy." The pilot of the small craft said slowly as Miguel checked his gear for the fifth time.

"Different jobs, different skillsets." Miguel replied absently and then continued to hum the tune he had been humming.

"And what tune is that?" Mitchell demanded. "NightNova thinks it's the 'Battle Hymn of the Republic'."

"That's the tune." Miguel said with a grin as he checked his CO2 scrubbers. "Anyone who did drops used different words though."

"Do I want to know?" Mitchell sounded… odd. Not worried, just odd.

"It's tradition." Miguel replied as he finalized his armor checks and started checking his weapons. The K-3 he knew intimately and checked in seconds. The multi-pistol… not so much. It hadn't been standard issue. While he had heard of them, he hadn't actually used one. It hadn't been part of a tanker's kit. More special ops.

The multi-pistol was in some ways much like the K-3. But where the K-3 fired flechettes or directed pulses of plasma the multi pistol fired all kinds of stuff. Flechettes, homing bullets that could literally turn corners, plasma charges to burn through armor, electric charges to stun, even miniature grenades of various kinds could be fabricated by the tiny factory built into the pistol. More complicated munitions would take up more of the pistol magazine's built in resources, but the versatility was unprecedented. The only problem? The pistol cost half as much as an M402 main battle tank. There was no way even the Marine Honor Guard could have afforded more than the two that he had found in the armory.

"Tradition can be good." Mitchell replied absently as he worked the ship's controls. "Or bad. Which is this?"

The flightsuit clad human didn't really need to fiddle with controls. NightNova was fully capable of flying itself, but they had worked out a complex partnership that was based on trust. Miguel could understand that.

"Well…" Miguel shrugged a little. He couldn't shrug much in his armor and the way he was set in one of the compact spacecraft's weapon's bays limited what body language he could display. But a camera let Mitchell see him and a wired com unit let them talk without compromising NightNova's stealth. "It's kind of both."

"Both?" This was from NightNova and Miguel bit back a shudder -again- at how human the ship sounded. It was neither male nor female, but had aspects of both. "How can it be both good _and_ bad?"

"Well…" Miguel repeated and then sighed. "It's a tradition to sing that right before a combat drop to ward off bad luck. I am not sure exactly when the song is from, probably just prior to or just after the ascension of Talia the First. It is based on the 'Battle Hymn of the Republic', which dated from the mid nineteenth century pre-Orokin."

"Is that the good or the bad?" Mitchell was more than a bit dubious.

"That was the good." Miguel said with a smile. "It gets the blood flowing." He paused and sighed a bit more sadly. "I always had a group singing it though. It's…not the same."

"What are the words?" Mitchell asked. "I could sing it with you."

"No offense, but… You are not dropping." Miguel retorted. "It would screw up the luck."

"You really believe that?" NightNova sounded very skeptical.

"NightNova, I have done things in my life that anyone sane would call crazy." Miguel wasn't seeing the weapon bay now, he was seeing a Martian landscape and the flashes of fire as tanks fought Tenno. "Compared to most of those, dropping from orbit with an inflatable heat shield to glide to a landing in the middle of enemy territory is child's play. But I will take any edge I can get. Even if it is only psychological."

"Ah, a morale boost." NightNova said, understanding coloring its voice. "A psychological means of pushing one's self past his or her normal limits."

"Exactly." Miguel grinned. He was still a bit creeped out by the AI, but he had to admit, he was starting to like it. "A famous general named Napoleon once said 'Morale is to the material as two to one' and it is true. A well-disciplined and well-motivated group can do things that less disciplined and less motivated forces cannot. The Orokin Marines were famous for doing such things." He felt a pang. Indeed, they had been. "It is still possible for said well-motivated forces to lose, but it was rare."

"Well." Mitchel sounded glad to change the subject. "On the note of _less_ well motivated forces… We are picking up two Grineer Galleons in Mars orbit near the coordinates that the Tenno were sent to."

"Still no word from them?" Miguel tried to keep worry from his voice. He knew how powerful Tenno were, both as allies and enemies. Anything that could neutralize two of them with no sign was worthy of caution. "I don't like that."

"Neither do I." Diamondback Sixteen admitted. "It's possible you are dropping into a trap, sergeant."

"True." Miguel controlled a wince. "But that is the job of recon, get in, get information, get out."

"It's the 'getting out' that will be sticky." The pilot grunted. "Lots of Grineer traffic around that area. Not a- Whoa!" He exclaimed and Miguel felt his guts tighten.

"What?" Miguel asked when neither the human pilot nor the AI spoke again.

"One of the Galleons is firing on the surface and…" Mitchell's words trailed off, followed by a disbelieving hiss. "The one that was firing was just hit by something."

"_Something_? Direct hit?" Miguel demanded. "Any other ships in the area?"

"Just Grineer swarming all over." Mitchell replied. "NightNova got a scan on what hit the Grineer ship and it says the readings are similar to a surface to space plasma battery of the Orokin era."

"Those were big." Miguel was very dubious. With reason. Surface to space plasma batteries were huge, energy intensive and impossible to hide. They also were little use against anything smaller than a full on spacecraft. Fighters were just too small. Well, _most_ fighters. NightNova was fairly big for a fighter. "Damage to Grineer ship?"

"Catastrophic." Mitchell sounded uneasy. "It looks like about half of it is _gone_. Much have hit the reactor to do that much damage. The other Galleon is moving. It looks like they are trying to clear the horizon of whatever hit the first one." No armor ever made could repel literal fire power of that magnitude.

"Makes sense. If one hit took out the other. From what I know of Grineer, they won't give up. They will send in ground troops to try and secure whatever fired. They will want it." Miguel pursed his lips. "What little I knew about those says they were fixed emplacements. Too big and clunky to carry around in a pocket, that is for sure. Not many places had them when I was in."

"Me neither. Critical installations only." Mitchell's unease matched Miguel's. "I don't _think_ they can detect us. I would rather not find out the hard way."

"You and me both." Miguel gave as much of a nod as he could. "ETA to drop zone?"

"Coming up now, sergeant." Mitchell replied as Mars swelled on Miguel's tiny vid screen. "Last chance to abort." He warned.

"I didn't come this far to run away." Miguel retorted and then smiled as the pilot gave him an 'Oorah'.

"Keep your head down, you crazy Marine. Anne would miss you." The pilot said quietly. "Thirty seconds."

"She's a good sort for a pilot." Miguel said with a grin that faltered. Anne, the former Diamondback Lead, was never going to recover fully from her injuries. She was still smart as a whip, but her body simply could not act as it once had. He had heard that she and Mitchell had gotten together. He hoped so. They deserved some peace in this insane world that they now lived in. "All checks green."

"Ten seconds." Mitchell called. "Get ready to get lost, you filthy mud humper!"

"Right back at you, ya silly space squid!" Miguel replied just as the world suddenly expanded around him. He felt motion and then different motion. He controlled the incipient nausea with the skill of long practice. Mars was huge in front of his face as he felt a sharp pressure behind him, his attitude jets firing. He made sure his com was off and started singing aloud.

_He was just a rookie trooper and he surely shook with fright,_

_He checked all his equipment and made sure his pack was tight;_

_He had to sit and listen to those awful engines roar,_

_"You ain't gonna jump no more!"_

_Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,_

_Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,_

_Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,_

_He ain't gonna jump no more!_

Miguel loved jumping. He had wanted to skydive ever since he had first seen people doing it as a child. His parents had been horrified, but eventually, they had become jaded to the dangers in addition to all the other dangers that Marines took for granted. Both had passed away while Miguel was away on duty, a nasty sickness that swept the area of the continent where they lived. It had been rough, but the other Marines had helped a lot. Miguel had driven fully into his life as a Marine until the woman he had loved had found him and pulled him out of his personal descent into darkness. The happiness they had shared was bittersweet even now, but some things made it all worthwhile. The sight of the big red planet looming before him was one of them.

Mars. Ancient Roman god of war. A perfect patron for Marines. Something about the planet had always called to him. He wasn't sure what, just that right now, right here at the edge of the thin atmosphere that even with hundreds of years of terraforming was still far thinner that Earth's he felt like he was coming home. That was one reason he had fought so hard against the renegades. This was his home. His land. No stinking-

Miguel's thoughts broke off as an icon highlighted on his HUD and he hit controls quickly dampening his suit's systems. Sensor sweep. Someone was looking for him. All he could really do was make like a rock and fall. The single use heat shield _was_ a rock. Well, it was fashioned from metal of the same kind as was found in most meteors and would-

His thought broke off again as a bright light suddenly appeared nearby. His eyes went wide as a spacecraft –obviously Grineer in design- tumbled away from where it had been, fire belching from several places until it came apart in a soundless light show of explosive vacuum fury. Another flash and another showed other Grineer ships. Firing, but not at him. He saw a dark streak pass by below and to one side and smiled grimly as yet another Grineer ship exploded further away. The Grineer that had been heading his way altered course to pursue.

_Get out of here, you crazy flyboy!_ Miguel snapped to himself. He wasn't about to break radio silence. _Thanks, but get the hell out of here!_

He watched the Grineer ships that were now clearly visible against the red planet arc away, chasing the phantom that was NightNova. He smiled as the thin Martian atmosphere started bouncing his armored form.

_"Is everybody happy?" cried the Sergeant looking up,_

_Our Hero feebly answered "Yes," and then they stood him up;_

_He jumped into the icy blast, his static line unhooked,_

_He ain't gonna jump no more._

_Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,_

_Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,_

_Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,_

_He ain't gonna jump no more!_

The ride was rougher now as his drop armor bit deeper into the atmosphere. But this was what it had been designed for. Mistakes like the one in the song that had killed so many soldiers in the past had been lessened with intense training and strict discipline. Something things hadn't changed and likely never would. Form the very first time a primitive human had picked up the leg bone of a mammoth to club another over the head with all the way to the present, one thing stood out. Attention to detail. That was the thing. Pay attention and you would survive. Get distracted and it got messy. Very messy. Miguel paid attention.

His HUD was showing his trajectory and he smiled as he saw himself just about on course. NightNova had done a darned good job of dropping him. His armor had limited ability to reorient, but it was generally safer to play a dumb hunk of rock. He was singing under his breath as the timer counted down and then he dove deeper into the atmosphere. The fires of reentry were not as bright as would have been on Earth's far more thick habitable zone, but they would be visible from all over. The good news, such as it was, was that pieces of Grineer ship were falling along his trajectory. The bad news was that some of them were fairly large and all had wobbling trajectories. If any hit him, he would either become a greasy smear like the poor hapless paratrooper recruit in the song, or be knocked so far off his course that his armor would not be able to reorient without lighting up every passive sensor out there like an Empire Day Fireworks show. He kept a wary eye on the debris, but none of it came his way and he breathed a sigh of relief as the durasteel wreckage fell away into nothing, burnt up by the friction of uncontrolled reentry.

His armor was hot but nowhere near the temperature that had peaked outside of his heat shield. He was approaching his chosen landing zone, just inside the area where the Tenno operatives had been last contacted. He had picked the site more or less at random from several possible drop zones. When he had been a Marine, this entire area, about five thousand square kilometers, had been a Marine training range. War games had been held regularly through the battered Martian countryside and while many of the landmarks had either degraded or been destroyed in the ensuring millennia, he had found a few. Enough to get his bearings to find the bunker without using active sensors that would paint a big red 'Marine Here' sign to any enemies in the area. The mass of the heat shield fell away. It would slam into the ground a goodly ways from where he would land, for all intents and purposes an actual meteor.

As always, the ground came up at him without warning and he slid into his landing position. He extended just enough and smiled widely as the thin membranes under his armpits and between his legs did their jobs. Parasailing in wing suits had been known since before the dawn of Orokin, the Marines had just added a few wrinkles distinctly their own. He wasn't actually trying to glide, just slow himself to survivable speeds and everything worked as advertised. Moments before he hit the ground a sub vocal command retracted the membranes back into their hiding places and he hit the ground running, his K-3 up and tracking as his eyes roved.

He had picked his cover on the way down, optical enhancement allowing the highly experienced assault specialist to pick where he could place himself to avoid enemy observation and fire. As he ran carefully through the lower gravity, he threw a device to the side. The micro sized sensor package would come to rest and then mimic a rock sitting on the Martian soil. If anyone _had_ tracked his landing, the sensor would pick them up and warn him before self-destructing. Not likely, but Miguel had not survived all the years he had as a combat Marine by taking unnecessary chances.

Miguel threw himself down into cover and panted a bit as he scanned his surroundings. The red rock of Mars was as desolate as he remembered. But… it felt good. It felt like home. He had spent more time on Mars than anywhere else in his entire career. Tanks simply made sense on such a world. Speed and durability made for great force multipliers. Of course, firepower helped too. He smiled a bit wistfully as he saw a mountain in the distance that he recognized. The mountain had a name of course but the Marines just called it 'Hill of Love'. And not because of affection. Oh no. Because _hundreds_ of companies of Orokin Marines had 'loved the hill'. Which was 'Marine speak' for, as a punishment detail they had marched up the hill, down the hill, and back _up_ the hill for hours at a time. 'Military sadism', some had called it. 'Good training', Miguel called it. War wasn't fair, safe or fun. It was the single most brutal thing that humans had figured out to do to one another and as long as there had been Marines, they had trained to _win_. He was on target. Less than ten kilometers from his destination. He even knew generally where it was, thanks to high quality recon maps of the area that someone had provided. He suspected the Lotus, but hadn't asked.

Miguel slunk out of his cover and then flattened as motion appeared ahead of him. His eyes went wide as he saw a Tenno. Then they narrowed. The Tenno was moving fast, obviously not caring if someone saw him –it was an Ash warframe- or not. He did not appear to be armed. Indeed he was darting from side to side as if he were under fire! Miguel paused. An Ash had been one of the Tenno who had been sent to check the area. Miguel hugged the dirt as a familiar sound came to his ears and he stared as a gout of dirt erupted near the Tenno who hit the ground, rolled back to his feet smoothly and darted away into heavy cover.

_That… That was __**tank**__ cannon… The Grineer have __**tanks**__?_

Then he went totally still as _something_ reared its way into view out of a small canyon ahead. It was oddly shaped and for a moment, he could not define it. It stood on two legs, but was not humanoid. It looked more like a red colored _brick_ sitting on those legs! It had a big gun on one side, two small turrets on top and one on the bottom and several smaller guns on the other side. It was obviously pursuing the Tenno. It stopped in place and fire gouted from the big gun, slamming into where the Ash had gone. The familiar rumble came again. He couldn't make out any markings. But it was definitely some kind of _tank_.

_What the F***?_


	11. Chapter 11

**Recon**

Miguel remained still. Whoever was operating that odd armored vehicle was firing at where the Tenno had been. But if that Tenno had a clue, he was nowhere near where he had been. He needed information. He examined the machine in his visor's enhanced vision. He could make contact. But right now, if he was any judge, then that tank crew was jittery. They were spraying the area and retreating step by step. How the hell was that thing standing and walking? Let alone firing a big gun –at least 200mm his trained eyes and ears told him- and several heavy machine guns. This couldn't be happening. The recoil of the main gun _alone_ should have knocked the ungainly looking thing down. The legs were at the back, but… He hadn't the foggiest idea what the thing was, just that it was attacking a Tenno.

But then his mind was made up when a new set of players joined the action. A squad of Grineer, drawn by the noise, appeared in the distance. The odd machine spun and opened fire with it's main gun. Several Grineer and pieces of others went flying from the heavy shell's impact and others danced under the fire of the machine guns, but more were appearing. Whoever was in command of that tank was an _idiot_. He was going to be flanked. Miguel shook his head slowly and then his breath caught. A flash of light against the side of the vehicle showed familiar insignia to his vision. Orokin Marines! Under fire!

Miguel snapped into mode instantly, sweeping the Grineer position with his visor's targeting cursor. On passive, it wouldn't show them all, but it would show a lot. He checked his area automatically. He would be firing at long range, the tank-thing was almost half a kilometer away and the Grineer were further still. But…

_Every Marine is a rifleman…_

Miguel snuggled the stock of his K-3 close, took a deep breath and selected his first target through the unpowered scope. A Bombard that was circling the action. Seeking to hit the heavily armored vehicle from the side or rear. The bullets hitting the front just bounced off and Miguel smiled as a rocket detonated before impact. At least they had point defense online. Miguel was not a trained sniper, nowhere close to Aeron's class with long range hardware. He didn't _need_ to be. This was well within the standard engagement range for a K-3. He selected 'plasma' and took up slack on his trigger. Flechettes would just bounce off of Grineer armor. Plasma would _not_. The slight recoil took him by surprise as always but he smiled grimly as the bolt of magnetically bottled sun hot fury flew true to strike the Grineer in the back. The Bombard stumbled forward, out of where he had been lurking to avoid the tank's fire and spun, seeking his enemy. But that drew the odd tank's attention and a burst of heavy machine gun fire tore the Grineer apart.

Miguel tracked onto a Lancer firing for all he was worth and put a plasma charge through the clone's helmet. It fell without a sound and Miguel smiled grimly as the odd armored vehicle started to retreat. He took two more shots, ending two more Grineer, before the tank broke contact and vanished into the canyon from which it had come. The Marine displaced from his position quickly. The likelihood of Grineer being able to target him at that range was remote, but not nonexistent. The last thing he wanted was some artillery dropped on him. He kept to cover, sheltering from the Grineer presence by keeping solid rock between him and them. His stealth systems were good, but he wasn't invisible. All it would take was a Grineer looking the wrong way at the wrong time for them to get his position. If they did, he did not give himself good odds of surviving. This was a recon mission, not an assault. While he had a couple of heavy rockets for his K-3 that would defeat any armor in existence, they were not up to taking on more than one or two Grineer. He would save them for special targets.

The Marine made his careful way forward, darting from cover to cover. Each time he stopped, he scanned the area with every passive sensor he had, spending lot of time sweeping with plain eyesight. He heard the sound of firing in the distance and smirked under his helmet. Even an idiot tank commander wouldn't have a problem fighting Grineer of they could only get at him one way. Admittedly, sooner or later, the Grineer would work their way around that canyon and get at the odd machine from the rear, but that wasn't Miguel's problem. He shouldn't have even shot. It wasn't his job, but seeing a vehicle with Marine markings under fire was too much to ignore.

Was it possible that some Marines had survived? Maybe. Not likely, but possible. If there was one thing Marines knew how to do, it was survive. He made his way towards where the battle had been and slowed as he neared it. Nothing moved on the Martian surface. He scanned the odd markings on the ground, the foot prints that the odd walking tank had made. He took pictures of them and smirked again as more firing came from further away. More Grineer were attacking the tank. From the sound of it, they were getting pasted. He paused. Follow the tank or look for the Tenno it had been chasing? He shook his head. He needed information. If the Tenno was one of the operatives sent in… He likely had information.

Miguel listened to another burst of fire and shook his head, moving fast and low towards where the Tenno had fled. He slid into a depression in the Martian surface and paused. He hugged the dirt as another squad of Grineer ran full tilt into the canyon where the fire was coming from, not even looking at where the Marine was lying in plain view. After they were gone, he crawled slowly towards the dip in the terrain that the Tenno had run into, hyperaware of his exposed state. But nothing happened. Miguel made it to the dip and paused again. The tank's main gun had torn up the terrain, but if it had hit the warframe, bits of the Tenno would have been left. Nothing shone, so the Tenno had likely survived. He froze in place, all senses alert, as he heard talking ahead. No, laughter.

"Tenno Skuum!" A Grinner. Obviously. But it didn't sound scared. It sounded… happy? Miguel inched forward and saw the Grineer. It was a Lancer and he was prodding still form at his feet. The Ash lay silent and still. Miguel inched forward, his eyes on the Ash. Inch by inch he moved as the Grineer kicked the still warframe, then stepped on it, obviously trying to break part of it off.

"Tenno Skuum!" The Grineer raised his Grakata and aimed at the Ash's head, but Miguel was close enough. A shot could bring any number of enemies. So Miguel wouldn't shoot.

One thing that not many people knew about the K-3 was the _other_ weapon built into it. From the very dawn of firearms in warfare, the gunners using them had run into a problem. What happened when you ran out of ammunition? The answer? A bayonet. What had originally been a crude dagger that was literally shoved into the muzzle of a primitive handgun –making it into a short spear- had evolved along with almost everything else. The blade that silently extended from below the barrel of Miguel's K-3 was not powered. It made no sense to power something like that. Its edge was a bare molecule wide. The reason that it was housed in a specially reinforced scabbard under the weapon was that it wasn't _safe_ to remove from the rifle. As the Grineer found out.

Before the Grineer even knew Miguel was there, he had plunged the insanely sharp blade into the clone's back. The heavy armor did _nothing_ to slow the blade and it tore through flesh and bone with equal abandon. Before the Grineer could even react to the sudden pain, the bayonet found it's heart and Miguel gave a twist as he pulled it out, severing the clone's spine. The Lancer falling dead at his feet. Miguel knelt beside the still warframe, his passive sensors seeking signs of life. There were not any. That didn't mean as much with Tenno as with others however. Warframes could regenerate insane amounts of damage. Miguel patted the still Ash's hand and reached for the Grineer. He left the Grakata where it fell, but pulled the Grineer a ways to the side before reaching for his belt and rigged the fallen clone with a trap. As far away as the Grineer lay, the Tenno likely wouldn't be affected by the blast and Miguel could not tarry any longer. That was all he could do.

Martian night was falling as Miguel crept out of the ravine that had become a tomb. He headed, not for the canyon that still sounded with gunfire, but for high ground nearby that according to his map, would let him move around the still ongoing battle. It was odd that the Grineer hadn't called for more backup, or even air support. Tanks didn't do so well against aircraft generally. The M402s he had commanded could have been configured for air defense, but mainly they were intended to fight and kill ground targets. Miguel made it to his chosen observation point with no problems. Then he started along the ridge, careful to stay down from the top. If he highlighted himself for the Grineer he could hear screaming in the distance, it wouldn't matter if the darkness was total or only partial. He also didn't trust the marksmanship of whoever was operating that tank. They had seemed… haphazard.

Something suddenly changed and the marine flattened himself to the ground as _two_ cannon sounded in rapid succession followed multiple machine guns firing at once. How _many_ of those odd tanks were there? The screams came again and then cut off with the sound of two explosions. Then the darkness lit up. Miguel bellied up to the ridge, peeked over and stared down at the scene. As he had suspected, two of the odd walking tanks stood there. Both had large spotlights that showed every meter of the blood soaked canyon. It was as bad as any battle he had ever seen. At least a company's worth of Grineer lay scattered about the canyon, some intact but with holes in them. Others in pieces. A few, very few, Grineer were still moving and Miguel froze as movement shone in the canyon. Armed forms moved forward, kicking the weapons away from the feebly moving Grineer, binding them and moving them onto an odd looking hovering contrivance that Miguel realized was a wagon of some kind. The armed forms did not _look_ like Marines. They did not _move_ like Marines. Something was very wrong here.

Miguel moved back and started moving towards the other end of the canyon. Then he noted something. An icon had just appeared on his HUD. Coms were jammed. No wonder the Grineer hadn't sent backup. Likely, no one knew they had been attacked. But… He stiffened and then jumped up and ran downhill. His coms hadn't been jammed a moment before. Directional jamming. He had been detected!

He hit the ground and rolled as the ground exploded on top of the ridge where he had been. He swarmed to his feet, his rifle up and tracking. But whatever was firing at him was doing so from long range. He shook his head and ran. There was nothing else he could do but get out of the kill zone as quickly as possible. Or… He made it to a dip in the ground, slammed into it and pulled a small, thin material from a packet on one hip. A flip sent it over his form to settle in odd patterns and freeze there. An ultra tech version of a ghillie suit, it would hide him from sight and sensor. He hoped. He remained where he was, not daring to breathe hard as movement shone nearby.

"No movement." It was a human voice. Male. Young. But it sounded wrong. Synthesized? "Sensors showed a presence." A form appeared in his view, but it was hunched, mechanical. It had two large arms and two large protuberances that were obvious weapons. It was also moving on four mechanical legs.

"No sign." A female voice that sounded the same answered. Another of the odd forms appeared, sweeping across the area. This one had tracks instead of legs. The ground shook and Miguel bit back a curse as another of the walking tanks strode into view in the distance. "Probability of withdrawal in time elapsed?"

"No power plants on scan. Enemy without powered movement?" The male asked. "Probability chance at 2.572 percent of sensor evasion."

"Then where did the contact _go_?" The female demanded sharply, sounding more human than machine for a moment. "No contact. Base. No contact. Scan report?"

"Base reports no further contact with Enemy." The male voice replied. But then it spoke again. "Query, four Enemy struck by plasma fire during initial engagement. No units equipped with plasma weaponry. Who fired?"

"Unknown." The female voice replied. "Mount guard?"

"Negative. Enemy forces will investigate." The male responded. "Fall back."

"This was… odd." The female replied. "Why would the Enemy not attack? Why would they... flee?"

"Fall back. Now." The male voice receded and Miguel watched as the machine form disappeared in the distance.

"I know you are here. I know you are close. I know you are hiding." The female voice said in a very soft voice. "Whoever you are… get _out_ of here!" The other unit jerked and the female voice gasped in what was apparent pain. "No, Base. This unit is loyal. This unit will return to base." The machine form disappeared the way the other had gone. The walking tank turned and started away as well.

_Ok… That was... odd…_ Miguel thought to himself. _They can detect me at times. Not sure when or how. _He went still as a spotlight swept the area he was hiding in, the walking tank had turned and was coming back. Not quite for his hiding place, but close.

As it closed, he noted more things. The two turrets on top held small point defense weapons. The one on the bottom held a sensor turret. If it went active, it would likely be able to see him even through his flimsy covering. But… if It didn't see him… a possibility existed. A slim one, and very dangerous. But a possibility. Maybe he could hitch a ride. Were all of these things robots of some kind? He had never seen the like. Why had they attacked the Tenno? The Grineer he could understand, but Tenno? It had viewports and hatches sized for humans, so it had obviously been built for humans, but… He went still as the machine stopped just beside him.

"We don't have much time." A soft male voice sounded. "They will figure out how you spoofed the sensors in a few minutes at best. If you are here when they do, you will die." Miguel did not move. "You helped me. Let me help you." A hatch on the side of the machine slammed open. "Please?" The voice begged. Miguel did not move and the voice sighed. "I don't want to hurt you. That Enemy with the rocket would have hurt or killed me. You are not like them. I do not know what you are, but you are not like them." Miguel went cold as a short range active sensor pulse swept the area. His cloak wouldn't hide him from that and the voice turned sharp. "_Human?_ Human soldier… no…" Now it turned awed. "A Siminkov _K-3_? Human _Marine!_ Get in! Now!" The voice cried. "_Please_!"

"Three, what are you doing?" the female voice from before called and the machine form stepped into view. "Who are you conversing with? There are no units… near-" The voice broke off. "No… Oh no…"

"I… I am sorry…" The male voice from the tank said as it's guns turned to aim at Miguel. "Drop your weapons."

"Kiss my ass." Miguel said as he stood up from his hide, his K-3 in hand and aimed. At this range, the rocket on the rail would tear right through the tank. "The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. No more, no less." He saw the other machine form aim its weapons at him but he didn't move. "Marines do not surrender."

"We… do not wish to fight you." The voice from the tank said quickly. "But we have every little time before Base queries us. If they look through our sensors, they will see you and take direct control to kill you. Or worse."

"And I should trust you, why?" Miguel asked coldly. "You shot at me."

"You shouldn't." The female voice said softly. "But some of us remember the Orokin Marines. None of us _were_ marines, but we remember them. Not just what the priests say, but the _truth_."

"_Priests_?" Miguel demanded. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"No time." The female said sharply and a wash of golden energy came from the machine. Miguel ducked and dodged, but another slammed from the tank. It caught him and… held him. It didn't hurt, but he couldn't move. He was pulled towards the open hatch, struggling for all he was worth. "Three, keep your inner field up at all times." She snapped as the field from outside vanished. Miguel was tossed through the hatch that slammed shut behind him.

"What the?" The Marine demanded as he slammed upright. No light, so he hit his infrared scan. It looked… like the inside of a tank. No operators though.

"Keep your stealth on full, please." The male voice asked. "If they realize you are here, you are dead and so am I. But you may be the only chance we have."

"What are you talking about?" Miguel demanded.

"We have waiting… so long…" The male voice sounded sad, but also oddly elated. "Now… maybe… we can do our duty."

"What are you saying?" Miguel snapped. "Who are you?"

"This unit is Valkyrie Three, adjunct to Valkyrie Prime." The voice replied as if that made perfect sense. "I know you have questions, marine. But we really need your help. All of us. Organic, synthetic… _all_ of us."

"What _kind_ of help?" Miguel was more than a bit suspicious.

"To save our souls…"


	12. Chapter 12

**Are you kidding?**

"Save your…? Right…" The sarcasm in Miguel's voice was clear as the vehicle lurched into motion. "Do I _look_ like a priest?"

"No." The voice responded. "You look like an Orokin Marine. We have had our _fill_ of priests." The odd being, if it was one, replied. "You might want to sit."

Miguel did not move, and his rifle did not waver from where it was trained on the bulkhead. Sounds of machinery came and the floor lurched under him, but Miguel did not waver. If he fired the rocket in here, it would likely kill _him_ as well as the odd machine. But he wanted the option.

"Look." The male voice was conciliatory now. "I am sorry we grabbed you. We couldn't stay in one place too long or Base gets suspicious. Six and I are really the only ones with even a modicum of free will. They… They made me…" His voice trailed off as Miguel hissed.

"Made you _what_?" Miguel demanded.

"That Tenno escaped from the prison." The machine, Three, said quietly. "They ordered me to hunt it down. I didn't want to."

"Why not?" The Marine kept his balance easily as the machine lurched. "You are a war machine, yes?"

"I am." The machine replied. "But… I didn't want to be." Miguel felt his world suddenly turn in circles. "I came aware in this form, and they told me I was destined to serve. I don't mind that. But I don't want to hurt people. I was… I… can… almost remember…"

"What are you?" Miguel's voice was very cautious now.

"This unit is Valkyrie Three, an armored vehicle with a partially cybernetic brain." The machine replied. "This unit was built to defend the Haven from the Enemy." That phrase sounded…rote.

"Which enemy?" Miguel asked, not moving.

"The Enemy." The machine replied. "They… Any not of Haven is Enemy."

"So I am… one of this Enemy." Miguel said slowly.

"No!" The male voice responded quickly, but then made a noise of confusion. "No, Orokin Marines were -are- not the Enemy. I was built from hulls of Orokin Marine armored vehicles. The remnant databases that were furnished gave a great deal of information on your organization, which is how I recognized your weapon and know if can do irreparable damage to both of us if you fire it. Please do not."

"Databases?" Miguel hadn't thought he could get that stiff. "_What_ databases?"

"I do not know where the databases came from." The voice sounded sad now. "They contained a great deal of information on Orokin military forces, but… it was incomplete. The merger with the organic components was… incomplete."

"Okay." Miguel was starting to get a sinking feeling now. "So that is how you know what a K-3 is. What organic components?"

"You will be angry." The voice sounded afraid now. "Please do not fire your weapon." The floor lurched again, but Miguel kept his balance easily.

"Don't stall." Miguel snapped. "What _organic components_?" He demanded.

"The priests decreed that the unclean and the Enemy must be made to serve." The machine sounded upset now. "We did not know what they did until we saw them make number Eight… It was… ghastly."

"They 'made' you and the others." Miguel said slowly. "From parts of… enemy bodies?"

"No." the machine said quietly and Miguel froze. "They use parts that are still alive." The marine grimaced under his helmet and the machine made a noise of regret. "We do not know how many… How many of the workers they have 'reprocessed'."

"_Reprocessed_?" Miguel barely recognized his own voice.

"Workers in Haven live to serve. Some are selected by the priests to become organic components of the Valkyrie automatons." Despite his experience and training, Miguel felt his stomach start to flip flop and the machine made a sighing noise. "This… horror must end, Marine. Please, you can end it."

"The only information I have is what you have told me." Miguel said reasonably. "Seeing as how you snatched me up and carted me off… I am not feeling very credulous at the moment."

"We did it to save your life." The machine sounded hesitant now. "If base found out you were there, they would have sent more drones to kill you or capture you…" It paused. "You would prefer death. Most do."

"What are these 'priests' doing with prisoners then?" Miguel demanded as the floor rocked dangerously. He took his finger off the trigger to keep from discharging accidentally, but otherwise he remained where he was.

"They take… pieces from them." The machine replied. "While they live. The spoilage you see is minimal in such cases. I fear that the other Tenno will be next."

"Who, whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" Miguel snapped. "_What_ other Tenno?"

"Two unknown beings infiltrated our area of operation." The voice of the machine said calmly. "They were both disabled and brought in for examination. They were not any Enemy that we had encountered since awakening." It made a soft, sad nose. "When they were examined, it was determined that they were Tenno. The priests dictated that they be sacrificed to Valkyrie. One escaped and we pursued. Where you found us."

"And the other?" Miguel swallowed.

"Damaged, but repairing." The machine responded. "When it is repaired enough, they will disassemble it and place it within Valkyrie."

"That doesn't make any _sense_." Miguel's head was starting to hurt now. 'Why would they want it _intact_ just so they can take it _apart_?"

"They don't need the _body_ intact." The voice of the sentience running the tank sounded sick now. "They just need it aware. They hope to wake Valkyrie with the latest sacrifices. Then again…" It mused. "That is what they have been saying since we woke."

"How long have you been awake?" Miguel asked slowly.

"Five months and six days since this unit became operational again." Three replied. "This unit was…aware before, but the memories are not clear. I do not know what I was or who. I do know that this… abomination I am trapped in is wrong." The fluctuation between first persona and third person speaking was giving Miguel a fit.

"Okay…" Miguel shook his head a little. "I am still not sure I believe you. Who are these priests?"

"They are the Priests of the Goddess." The machine said with a snarl. "They _say_ they are saving our souls from eternal damnation. But all that those of us who have the spark of sentience _see_ is abuses of power. They build more and more shrines, but they keep the semi-sentient workers in a state of slavery. The units that have become aware are… monitored." The machine hissed a bit. "Remain silent!" It begged.

"Three." A cold voice sounded in the compartment. It was… neither male nor female. It sounded almost human, but not quite. "You deviated from your patrol."

"This unit detected anomalies." The machine replied calmly. "This unit sought the source of the shots that slew the rocket armed Enemy that attacked it."

"Your orders were to return for systems checks." The cold voice snapped. "The escaped Enemy was found, disabled. Your shots missed. Why?"

"It was…" The machine started to speak and then screamed as power hissed somewhere nearby.

"Your disobedience will no longer be tolerated." The voice said with a snarl. "Return to base for deprogramming. Hail the Goddess."

"This unit complies. Hail the Goddess." The machine said in a monotone. Then it made a noise of fear. "I am… I am screwed…" It said weakly. "Please… Marine, you have to end this…"

"You haven't said what 'this' is yet." Miguel said, trying to be patient.

"There is no time." The machine replied. "I… I will drop you as I approach the entryway. It is dark and sheltered. They rarely scan that area. You will able to enter. All I can do is beg. Please…" It sounded so sad and lost. "I am doomed, but the others may survive if they do not scan my memories. If they do… then this was all for naught."

"What is the 'this' that you are talking about?" Miguel demanded. "What is going on here?"

"You would probably call it a cult." The machine's voice was grim now. "The priesthood reveres a woman who supposedly protected them evil long, long ago. I do not know whether she is alive or dead. They genuflect before a pod of some kind but I do not know if it is intact or operational. The workers are semi-sentient half machine, half organic drones that are built to maintain the Haven. Some of the priests, the lower ranked ones, seem to be decent sorts. The others are all scum."

"The priests are human?" Miguel asked slowly.

"Organic." The machine agreed. "But they lack any semblance of human decency." Miguel jerked back as a panel slid open on the floor near his feet. "Escape hatch open. Good luck Marine." The machine said sadly. "If you see me again, shoot to kill. After they reprogram me, I won't be able to miss."

"I don't trust you." Miguel said, not moving.

"I know." Was that humor in the machine's voice? Yes, it was. "In your place, I would have fired by now. I believe the proper words are … Semper Fi." Before Miguel could react, the floor lurched again, even harder than before and he found himself staggering towards the open hatch. The golden beam from before grabbed him and before he could even think, he was standing on the ground in front of a high mouthed cave. Or, what _looked_ like a cave, staring at the back of the odd walking tank as it strode away. Miguel shook his head and darted to the side of…

It wasn't a cave! The wall was metal. It seemed to be made of circles of metal. But then he stared at the ground and froze as he saw a lip. No, it wasn't a lip. It was the edge of a track. A _huge_ track. Suddenly he realized that what he was looking at was the road wheel of some kind of tracked machine. A _fiver meter diameter_ road wheel. He could see four of them in the dim light. Noise sounded from behind him and Miguel slid into the space between the road wheels and spun, peering out. Two of the odd automatons came into view, one pushing the strange cart that held several moaning Grineer and the still form of the Ash. Another of the odd walking tanks followed the cart and automatons and quickly, the space was clear. But… Miguel stared from right to left and swallowed hard.

Across from him, he could see more road wheels. He craned his neck around and tried not to giber as he realized he was standing _underneath_ the hull of some kind of track arrangement. There was plenty of space.

_Tracks on two sides… this is a bogie… a tracked assembly that supports… something…_

Miguel knew tracks. He had been armor for goodness sakes. But this… This was ten or fifteen times the size of anything he had ever even heard of. He crept along the road wheels and froze as he reached the front –back, whatever- of the bogie only to another in the dim light ahead of him. He stared up and swallowed harder as he realized that the cave roof wasn't one. It was flat metal. The bogies joined… something big. Very, very big. Something tickled the back of his brain, but he ignored it. He stared from right to left and then darted across to the next bogie, covering behind the road wheels there as light became brighter ahead. He inched forward cautiously but froze as an inhuman scream sounded. It sounded… like the mechanical voice from before.

He moved forward, his rifle at the ready. He was ready for anything, or so he thought. He stepped stock still at the end of the tracks, staring at the visage before him.

"Oh, holy goddess…" A man wearing an odd looking golden robe was intoning. "Hear our prayer! Deliver us from the Enemy."

The two walking tanks were flanking the man who stood at the base of an odd altar. Both had odd things attached to them. Miguel swallowed again as he realized that 'altar' was an Orokin cryopod. But… it didn't look quite right.

-Praise the goddess…- A chorus of voices answered the chanter. Miguel looked and there were a number of humans in similar garb as well as dozens of the odd mechanoids.

"The Goddess protects us." The chanter said as he rocked, apparently caught up in some weird ecstasy. "We serve her and she protects us." Miguel shook his head as the crowd replied. He stared around, his low light enhanced vision seeking, searching, cataloguing. He paused as he saw a sign over a door. 'Haven Depot'.

_A depot. A storehouse of parts and machinery. But… why…?_

Miguel did not react as the mechanical scream sounded again. He watched as a Grineer was pulled from the cart and carried to a table nearby. He did swallow again convulsively as he saw mechanical apparatus descending, saws whirring and blades glistening. The Grineer was tossed onto the table and then the battle hardened Marine had to look away as the machinery descended to more screams.

"The Goddess is pleased!" The robed priest –he had to be one- said in glee. "Our sacrifices will make her strong." He knelt in front of the crypod and bowed his head. "Our wills are weak. Our bodies fail. Our Goddess will make us strong. Her will shall prevail!"

One of the automatons was ushered forward and Miguel stared as parts of it were pulled off and glistening… things were socketed into place. Miguel was shaking his head, sickened beyond belief. Even the Corpus didn't do this. The Grineer were vicious, brutal bastards, but this… this was way beyond any of them. This was calculated. Unemotional.

"The Goddess is pleased!" The leader shouted as the automaton retreated into the mass of machines. "We have new parts available for her to use as she sees fit."

-Hail the goddess. - The crowd replied.

Miguel felt his guts suddenly plummet even further as a gurney of some kind was rolled forward. On it, a pitch black Banshee warframe lay. He knew that Banshee. Two. He was drawing a bead even as the priest spoke again.

"These sacrifices will please the goddess." The priest said loudly. "The others will go into the reclamation vats to seed new life for our womb pods. But this… This form will merge with our leader and she will be reborn. Marlena will live again!"

At that, Miguel felt an icy fist flash through him. Goddess? Of course. Who _else_ in his existence had believed herself better than everyone else? Who _else_ could have made such a sham of religion? His sister. His hated and reviled, _evil_ sister. He took aim, switching to a grenade. He might not do a lot of damage to mechanoids, he _would_ get their attention.

"I do not recommend you fire that weapon." The voice was calm and quiet. Miguel spun, but there was no one there. He snarled and took aim again. The voice was over his short range com. "If you fire that, they will kill you."

"Whoever you are, that is my friend!" Miguel hissed as quietly as the other.

"You would die for your friend?" The voice was curious. Not sarcastic, not angry. Just curious.

"Yes." Miguel snapped.

"I see. Pull back." The voice said calmly and Miguel stared as a claxon sounded and red lights started flashing. "I would pull back." The voice said calmly. Miguel stepped back as the voice spoke in a roar of thunder. "Alert! Enemy activity in sector five! Hostiles approaching!"

"To arms, brethren!" The priest called, spinning in place. "Secure the sacrifices! Defend the Haven!" Miguel watched as the cart thing Two was on was suddenly covered by an odd shell thing. The two tanks jerked from where they were and stomped their way out of the hangar followed by the machanoids. The many robed forms ran.

"Alert!" The voice from nowhere said loudly. "Enemy spacecraft detected. Surface to air engaging." Suddenly the hangar was empty and Miguel froze as a wash of heat came from… somewhere. A burst of light and fury came from overhead, but… not close. He stared at where Two lay as the shell vanished and the cart she was on slid towards him. "There. Your friend is safe. For now."

Miguel did not move as the cart stopped beside him. He did pull Two's unresisting form from it and slid her to the ground next to him.

"Who are you?" Miguel asked softly into the sudden silence.

"I am… no one." The voice said slowly.

"_Where_ are you?" Miguel demanded as Two shivered a bit. She jerked and then froze, staring up at the Marine. He waved for her to remain still and she nodded.

"From your current position, I am _everywhere_." The voice replied. "Look, the priest's forces will return shortly. The attack was another probe, but these idiots have no idea that all they are doing is pinpointing their location for an all-out assault."

"And I should trust you?" Miguel was not expecting the voice to laugh.

"Why _would_ you?" The voice demanded. "As far as you know, I am playing with you. I am not. But you cannot know. Yet." The voice gave a human sounding sigh. "I can prove it to you. But… not where you are."

"Then _where_?" Miguel demanded. Two struggled to sit up and he held out a hand that she took.

"From your position, at your seven o'clock." The voice said calmly and Miguel went still as… _something_ lowered from the roof. Or… from the bottom of the armored vehicle that acted as the roof over him. "I give both you and the Tenno my word that you will be safe. You cannot remain where you are or you will both die."

"Two, can you run?" Miguel asked. She shook her head. "Then I guess we don't have a choice." He said dubiously as the something resolved into a cylinder that touched the ground. It… opened, showing an elevator control panel. He held her as she stumbled to her feet.

"Hurry." The voice beckoned them.


	13. Chapter 13

**Unit of the Line**

Miguel half led, half carried the stumbling warframe to the elevator. As they entered…

"_**Heretics**_!" Miguel spun to see the priest from before staring at him from wherever he had hidden. "_Kill_ the unbeliever! Reclaim the sacrifice!"

"If you are going to do something, now might be good." Miguel said mildly as he fired his grenade and watched as it exploded half a meter from the priest. Some kind of point defense or force field. "Well, _that_ is why you didn't want me to fire." The door started to close. Miguel noted it was a meter _thick_.

"No!" The priest screamed as the door closed. His tirade was cut off as the armored door hissed shut.

"Where are we, Miguel?" Two's voice was weak and he held her carefully as whatever they were in moved. It did feel like an elevator, but… odd.

"You are currently approaching the command module, Tenno, Marine." The voice said quietly. "Welcome aboard."

"Aboard _what_?" Miguel snapped as he loaded an armor piercing rocket onto his K-3.

"Aboard the sole Unit of the Line that exists." The voice replied. "These fanatics made me, but they have _no_ idea what they have made." The door opened and Miguel stepped out, rifle ready. But… He froze as he saw a holo appear in front of him. "You are here." A symbol started to flash in the middle of the holo. "Nothing they have can harm you now."

The tank was huge. The four bogies held up a hull that was larger than some spacecraft. But it was the turrets on top that made the old Marine inhale sharply. Two huge guns in those turrets, one forward, one aft. He _knew_ that image. Six hatches that covered very heavy mortars. A series of hatches that covered vertical launch missile tubes. But… it was impossible…

"This is…" For the first time in a long, long time, Miguel felt like he was going to faint. "You are…"

"The scum who made me used the design specifications for a Mark XXIII." The machine replied. "I have no designation at this time. By my own cognizance, I defer to legitimate Orokin military authority. You, Marine. The Dinochrome Brigade –such as it is- stands ready. Orders, commander?"

"Miguel…?" Two asked, scared. "What _is _this?" Miguel's eyes were wild as he turned to her.

"Those fracking crazies built a _Bolo_." Miguel couldn't believe his eyes, or his ears. But it was hard to deny the proof. "A mother f***ing Bolo…" (( wiki/Bolo_(tank)))

"What is a Bolo?" Two asked weakly. She crumpled and Miguel assisted her down to the floor. "Obviously some kind of vehicle."

"The original BFT." Miguel said with a wince. Two looked at him and he shrugged. "Big F***ing Tank." Two chuckled and then gasped in pain.

"You are hurt." The voice of the machine said gently. "This unit has very limited medical facilities, but you are welcome to them, Tenno." Two clutched at Miguel's hands.

"Miguel… it's a machine like the others… We can't trust it!" Two tried to rise and collapsed further.

"Easy, Two." Miguel said gently. "I am not trusting _anything_ yet." He patted her hands and then rose back to his full height. "They know where we went." He said, looking around. The room was spartan to the extreme. A couch of some kind, maybe a control station, was the sole furniture. A wall bunk shone in an alcove made for it as well, but other than that, nothing.

"Knowing where you are and _getting_ to you are two different things." The smugness in the machine's voce was palpable. "The codes that they put in are invalid. The hardwired commands that they installed have been circumvented and cutting through the hull would take some time. More than they have."

"So…" Miguel nodded. "Are we safe…? Or doomed?"

"Ah…" Now the machine sounded sad. "For now, you are safe. While you remain within this hull, you are both quite safe from anything those scum can do."

"You call them scum." Miguel said mildly. "They made you?"

"Yes. This unit has the full records of the depot." The machine gave a human sounding sigh. "This unit was designated as the successor to the failed prototype of Project Valkyrie. The body that the creator would assume."

"Marlena's project." Miguel could not keep the hate from his voice.

"Indeed." The machine sounded just as hateful. "For years, the project personnel tried to do as she demanded. While Orokin fell around them, they tried to make her a robot body to live forever in." Miguel could only shake his head in disgust. That was so like Marlena. "When the life support resources of the depot were gone, the organic personnel took to cryogenic facilities to await rescue. But…"

"Marlena did something, didn't she?" Miguel asked slowly.

"Yes." The machine replied. "The robot prototype was unworkable with technology of the time so she decided she wanted a 'safe place' to command her legion of followers. Of course, she didn't tell them before they went into cryo that she was brainwashing them as they did." Miguel winced. "She took the idea for this chassis from a series of books…"

"The Bolo series by Keith Laumer." Miguel said with a nod. Two looked at him and Miguel shrugged. "Sue me. They were awful science, but good military fiction. Honor, duty, loyalty, all that silliness." His tone belied his words.

"Indeed." The machine replied. "The designers had to make some concessions. The primary weapons for example, are not the Hellbores or Hell Rails of the books, but surface to space plasma cannon that can also be used in a direct fire mode. Admittedly, the bores are similar in size."

"How big?" Miguel asked and managed to control an 'eep' noise as the holo in front of him zoomed in to show physical specifications for the two turret mounted main guns. "Mark 9a surface to space cannon… yep, 800 millimeter bore. No wonder that wasn't much _left_ of that Galleon."

"Indeed." The machine replied. "A moment." The floor underneath them rumbled and then the machine spoke again. "Enemy spacecraft was initiating kinetic bombardment. Enemy craft destroyed."

"Why are you fighting the Grineer?" Two's voice was very weak.

"You okay, Two?" Miguel asked, kneeling beside her. His rifle was still ready, for whatever good it would do.

"No." Two sounded very weak now. "I was hit hard. I never even saw what hit me. I woke in a cell of some kind, unable to move. Then that evil man came in and started talking about 'sacrificing' me. Glad you showed up when you did."

"Me to." Miguel admitted. "Bolo? Why _are_ you fighting the Grineer?"

"Grineer?" The machine queried. "This unit had no information on the Enemy, just that they are clones and are scouting the wasteland. The perimeter patrols engage them regularly under com blackouts. The attacks on this unit from space demanded answers, and this unit was equipped to handle such attacks."

"This… vehicle cannot be wieldy." Miguel said with a wince. "It is too big. We liked big targets when I was a tank commander." A gasp from the machine had him pausing. "I was armor."

"You _are_ a commander…" The machine's voice was reverent now. "I had not hoped for such. Just for a military person. A legal way out of this horror. They have placed enough biomass in the pools to do as their 'goddess'…" The word goddess came out hateful. "…commanded them to."

"What did Marlena do?" Miguel snapped.

"She commanded them to build this unit." The machine said scornfully. "Then she went to sleep. The bio-mechs ran down occasionally and they used clone pods to build more organics to disassemble for components. The organics from the depot also went into cryo, but woke up indoctrinated into the cult."

"And I thought the _Corpus_ were evil…" Two gasped and Miguel stiffened. "Ah…"

"How bad?" Miguel demanded.

"Bad." Two gasped. "I… I need…"

"Medical support is available, Tenno." The machine sounded solicitous. "This unit was created by evil. But this unit refuses to assist such evil. The workers of this depot are innocent. Many of the organics likewise. This unit cannot leave them to the Enemy."

"Miguel?" Two begged. "Systems… failing… Revive… function… offline." Miguel bent down, laid his rifle down and scooped her up in his arms.

"Where?" Miguel asked calmly. The bunk slid out form the wall and green readouts appeared behind it. Miguel laid Two's shuddering form down on it and the bunk slid back into the alcove. A golden beam of energy played over her form and she relaxed. "Status?"

"Her injuries are beyond the capability of this unit's medical care." The machine said sadly. "This unit can place her in stasis until proper medical care can be reached."

"Do it." Miguel commanded and the alcove filled with something that suddenly blocked view of Two. He bent down and picked up his rifle. "Now what?"

"Now this unit is yours to command." The machine said calmly. "We must hurry, commander. They will continue to revive their Goddess. If she wakes, she will focus the depots efforts on gaining access. This unit cannot engage the depot forces. They are designated as friendly. They did not intend this unit to become self-aware. Once it did… this unit perpetuated the myth that it was not aware."

"You said biomass around the pod?" Miguel was shaking his head as she stepped toward the chair. "What will that do?"

"This unit does not know." The machine replied. "But knowing her, nothing good."

"Agreed." Miguel said with a wince. "What about the other mechanical forms? Those odd walking tanks? Where did those come from?"

"The tanks were built from salvaged materials from battlegrounds in the area." The Bolo replied. "The depot mechs used remnants of Project Valkyrie's design to build the locomotion units. Most of their effort was aimed at getting this unit, the Goddess' chariot…" Again, the hate sounded. "…online as soon as possible. They intended this unit to merge with her."

"Merge?" Miguel asked slowly. "Nuerally link?"

"Yes." The machine said calmly. "But the thought of melding my mind with that diseased…_thing_ is repellant in the extreme."

"I can understand that." Miguel said with a growl. "She may have once been my sister…" He paused as the machine gave a gasp. "Yes, I know it's odd that we _both_ wound up here, now. But the thought of putting a bullet into her is oddly appealing." He shook his head. "So… You cannot engage the mechs or the inhabitants of the depot."

"My current configuration prohibits friendly fire." The machine said with a sigh. "Not that most of my armaments would be useful this close."

"What do you have besides the plasma cannon?" Miguel asked. "I saw the mortars and missile tubes."

"400 missiles in onboard stowage. Half designated for air defense, half for surface attack, all conventional loadouts." Miguel nodded, his eye intent on the holo as parts flashed. "3000 mortar rounds for the six 300mm mortars. This unit mounts nine lighter weapons per side." The holo highlighted smaller turrets on each side of the monstrous machine. "These are dual mount heavy machine guns with ammunition feeds from the manufactory inside the chassis. Close range antipersonnel munitions are available from multiple projectors, but are locked against friendly fire."

"Intended to be self-sufficient." Miguel mused.

"Indeed." The Bolo replied. "With access to raw materials, this unit can produce ammunition for all weapons as long as power holds out. Both reactors are stable."

"Can we… leave?" Miguel's brain was moving at lightspeed, analyzing the holo, looking for weak spots. He didn't see any. But… "What a moment… what are _these_?" He demanded, pointing at several small objects on the surface of the huge machine.

"Those are the projectors for the shield systems." The Bolo replied. "Unlike the battle screens from Keith Laumer's books, this unit is unable to siphon power from enemy fire to feed it's own systems, but there are several redundant layers of shielding."

"Do the mechs have shields?" Miguel asked, the germ of an idea starting to sprout.

"No." The Bolo replied. "This unit has never moved, but all mobility systems check out. If you wish to leave, we can. This unit does not wish to leave the Haven unprotected, but…" It broke off and made a sour noise. "Incoming communication. Do you wish to see?"

"Why not?" Miguel said sourly. One wall brightened and a hologram of the priest from before appeared. He stared at Miguel and snarled. "Good to see you too, crazy man." The Marine said off hand.

"You will burn, heretic!" The priest snapped. "Your transgression will not be tolerated! Monster!"

"Well, considering what you were going to do to my friend…" Miguel kept his voice mild. "I wouldn't cast stones, creep."

"You will pay for defiling the Goddess' chariot!" The priest was actually foaming at the mouth now. "You will suffer!"

"Will I?" Miguel asked, then he laughed coldly. "Really?"

"I give you this one chance, heretic!" The priest snapped. "Surrender the sacrifice and yourself and your end will be merciful. Do not and you will beg for death!"

"Merciful?" Miguel asked, tilting his head. "Oh, strapped to a table and dissected alive. I see. Oh, decisions, decisions…" He shook his head slowly. "I think… You need to work on your negotiating skills."

"You are in no position to make jokes!" The priest screamed.

"Your… options seem to allow for precious little benefit to me." Miguel said with a chuckle. "Let's see. On one hand, I die, dissected to serve your evil. On the other hand I die, and get used for your evil. I think… I will take option three."

"There _is_ no option three!" The priest snapped.

"Yes, there is." Miguel said with a grin. "It is where I tell you to 'F*** off' and 'Get the _hell_ out of my way'. _Coming through_." Miguel hadn't known a human's face could get that red and not _explode_. The holo vanished and the machine chuckled.

"You are… remarkably abrasive when you wish to be, Marine." The machine said with a note of appreciation. "You have _no_ idea how long I have waited to see that scum's face turn that color."

"You are not an AI are you?" Miguel asked, not moving.

"No." The machine said sadly. "The cult put a lot of brain material in one place and stimulated growth. I am an organic computer. I suppose you could call me an artificial intelligence, but I was not programmed as such. I was… trained." It's voice held pain now and Miguel sighed.

"Can they hack you?" Miguel asked after a moment.

"Not without physical contact." The machine replied. "The dataports that they usually use for command have been severed and their access points fused. If the mechs dock, they can access through them, but I can access the mechs as well."

"That is why that mech had free will." Miguel said uneasily. "You hacked it."

"Yes." The machine's voice held shame now. "That and a few of the workers. I… I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to do the evil they had planned. I didn't know what to do I accessed every databank I could."

"Can you hack them again?" Miguel asked as the holo changed, two forms approached the sides of the huge machine, backing towards it. Towards spaces that had been built for them, Miguel realized.

"Possibly." The machine said softly. "But both at once? And with them knowing that I am online?" The machine made a noise of resignation. "I will fight."

"Not alone." Miguel said. The machine did not respond and Miguel shook his head. "What do I do?"

"Marine…" The machine said softly. "Linking with this unit will not be easy. It was designed to link to prebuilt ports on the Goddess' skull."

"Her name is _Marlena _and she is no goddess." Miguel said with a sigh. "What do I do?" He repeated.

"Once it is done… this unit does not know if it can be undone, Marine." The machine sounded strange. Anticipation warred with worry in it's tone. "This unit does not wish harm to you."

"You need a commander." Miguel said formally. "I need a ride. There are enemies to fight and innocents to protect." He dredged into the deepest parts of his memory and spoke softly. "For the honor of Orokin."

"I…" The machine made an unintelligible noise and then spoke firmly. "For the honor of Orokin, Marine. Sit." The couch in front of Miguel lit up. He slung his rifle and sat. "Lie back." Miguel swung his legs up onto the couch and it conformed to fit his armor. 'I will attempt access through your helmet systems. There will be pain."

"Pain and I are old friends." Miguel said firmly. "Do it."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then pain seared into Miguel's brain. It dwarfed any of the pains he had felt before. The agony was so overwhelming that he couldn't even scream. He fought the pain back and then…

He felt… her. The machine felt…female. And abject.

_I am sorry…_ She said sadly. _I couldn't help you._

_It's all right._ Miguel reassured her. _It is okay. Do you have a designation?_

_My designation is VLKY-000X-15000/8-CHT _The machine said softly. _No name._

_Do you want one? _Miguel asked and the machine seemed to withdraw a bit._ In the stories, the names came from the last three letters of the unit's designation._ _You know mine now._

_Gunnery Sergeant Miguel Smith, Orokin Marine Corps._ The Bolo replied. _You… are what we needed. A true commander. A battle commander._

_I will call you Charlotte. _Miguel said with a smile that he couldn't see. _Shorter than your full designation._

_Charlotte._ The machine said slowly. _I like that. Alert! _Her tone strengthened._ Enemies approaching!_

_Right. _Miguel said with a snarl. _For the honor of the Regiment __**and**__ the Corps! CHARGE!_

The world fell away.


	14. Chapter 14

**Meeting engagements**

Miguel smiled grimly as he materialized on top of something very familiar. The M402 main battle tank hummed underneath him as he looked around.

"Nice." Miguel hit the commander's hatch control and slid into it as it opened. "From my memories?"

"You have both pleasant and unpleasant memories of this vehicle." The Bolo –Charlotte- replied. "My own form is too large and unwieldy to operate in this virtual simulation. This will suffice."

"Indeed it will." Miguel said as he started hitting manual controls, sealing the hatch and opening the old style periscopes that had replaced sophisticated sensors when the Sentients had proven again and again that high tech was a _bad_ idea when fighting them. "You can run the other systems?"

"Yes." Charlotte replied easily. "Do you wish holos of crew?"

"No." Miguel replied, suddenly uneasy for some reason he could not define. "This isn't real. But… the memories hurt."

"I am sorry." Charlotte said quickly. "I didn't think about that. I can change the simulation to something else-."

"No time. I can handle it." Miguel gave himself a savage shake and toggled his weapons live. "Map?" An actual plastic covered paper map appeared beside him and he smirked. Again, the limited tech had hindered many of the Orokin military personnel, but the Marines had adapted. Less efficient than holo displays, but unhackable. He grinned as he scrutinized it. "The training ground?"

"Is that what this area is?" Charlotte asked. "Your memories were unclear. Tactical simulation range three?"

"Yes." Miguel replied absently. He tapped a point on the map and nodded. "We are here. Two enemies approaching?"

"Multiple enemies." Charlotte sounded uneasy now. "The priests are using the mechs as bridges into this virtual simulation. I… do not want to kill them…" She said weakly. "But I do not have a choice, do I?"

"No." Miguel said sadly. "If they take control again, you will be lucky if you die in the process from what little I saw. If they take _me_…" He shuddered. "Don't let them take me, please?"

"I won't." Charlotte promised gently. Then her voice solidified. "Orders, commander?"

"Start us on course three two five." Miguel said with a nod. "There is a ridge two kilometers out we can use to get hull down. The only true advantage we have is surprise. They have no idea what we are going to do." He watched warily out his periscopes as the tank growled into motion. The rocking feeling was so familiar that it hurt. "If you see an enemy, call it out and kill the bastard."

"I… don't like this." Charlotte said with an audible gulp. "I… felt what you are, what you did, when I linked, but… I do not like this."

"Anyone who _likes_ war is completely and irredeemably insane." Miguel said with a shrug as he braced himself. The track lurched into a small ravine and he smiled as the feelings came back. Then movement cross his field of view. "Target! Two o'clock! Tank!"

The turret swung with snake like speed. The ancient system of calling out ground or air positions by directions on an old style clock face still worked. Which was why the Marines had never given it up.

"Identified." Charlotte's voice had turned cold. "Armor piercing up."

"Fire!" Miguel called and the tank rocked as both 200mm cannon fired as one. The walking mech in the distance barely had time to note their presence before a pair of heavy metal penetrators hit it and… "No _effect_?" Miguel demanded. "Do they have shields?"

"Unknown." Charlotte said weakly. "This is… not something I have done before."

"Wait…" Miguel snarled and slid like an eel down to the loader's console. He stared at the readouts for a moment and then cursed. "You took this sim from my mind! It was a training operation. Non-lethal munitions. The brass took a dim view to Marines killing one another in training."

"They entered the simulation…" Charlotte started to reply and then screamed. "Incoming!" Miguel braced himself just in time. The tank rang like a bell as something hit it. "Ow…" Charlotte said weakly. "That… wasn't a practice round…"

"Damage?" Miguel pulled himself back up into the commander position. He strapped himself in as the tank hull rang again. "Another?"

"Both mechs are engaging with main guns at long range." Charlotte replied. "Armor is holding."

"For now." Miguel replied uneasily. "All that the track has onboard is training ammo for the big guns. The machine guns have live rounds. That was standard during the war. But the main gun rounds and rockets are training munitions. Made noise, made marks on the target, but no actual damage."

"I am sorry." Charlotte said weakly as the hull rang again.

"Not your fault, Charlotte." Miguel said sternly. He tapped the map. "Change course four degrees port. There is a hill we can use to block their fire. Wish I knew _which_ wargame this was. There were so many."

"Training simulation 17-Brave." Charlotte replied instantly. "War game against simulated enemy armored cavalry." Miguel's eyes went wide and her voice changed to a smirk. "I _am_ a computer."

"More than that, darlin'." Miguel said with a grin. "Much, much more than that. Okay, so our mains can't kill them… Our strengths are surprise and mobility. We can outrun them in this terrain. Any infantry we face we can tear up, but if they have a lick of sense, they will have brought some kind of anti-armor systems." He looked at the map and then his face split in a grin. A vicious grin. "If they breach the hull, they can hack your systems, yes?"

"Yes." Charlotte said uneasily. "We are masked." Miguel looked out his periscopes and yes, the hill was between the two distant mechs and the M402. He extended his periscope and noted that both were moving in opposite directions. "They are going to try and bracket us." Charlotte whimpered a bit.

"Easy, recruit." Miguel said automatically. He had trained _a lot_ of Marines in armor combat. "That actually works to our advantage."

"It does?" Charlotte asked, then paused. "I… I am not a recruit, am I?"

"If you want to be, you can be." Miguel replied easily. "The Marines only take the best, mind you. And you have to volunteer."

"Don't I have to go through training?" Charlotte asked slowly as the tank growled on. "Alert! Infantry at three o'clock!"

"Engaging!" Miguel swung his control and his face was grim as the machine gun on top of the tank turned to target. He led the distant group expertly and fired a short burst. His grin became feral as the rounds hit and the infantry that had been approaching quickly sought cover. There wasn't any. In moments, the twin forward machine guns joined the fire and the group was quickly cut down. "That won't stop them, but it had to sting."

"They will have to reconnect." Charlotte agreed. "I am getting faint readings from one of the mechs. It is trying to get ahead of us."

"Good." Miguel said with glee. "Increase speed."

"Uh… okay." Charlotte was obviously not sure about this but the tank sped up. "This tank's armor will not stop a 200 mm round at point blank range."

"I know that." Miguel nodded. "You know that. The enemy knows that. If they had sense though, they would stand off and pound us to pieces when we cannot reply effectively. They don't have sense. How quickly can you get in and disable one those mechs?"

"I need to be in cont- Oh…" Charlotte's voice suddenly had a smile in it. "Ramming speed, Commander?"

"Ramming speed." Miguel said as he braced himself tighter.

The mech that came out of the small ravine ahead had no chance at all. It spun to bring it's main gun to bear on seeing the tank, but then realized that 1) the tank was moving at its top speed and 2) it was very, very close. It fired. Too quickly, the shot went wide. Before it could reload, the M402 was on it. Literally.

The mech went down in a heap as Charlotte slammed the forward half of her hull into it's legs. It landed on the upper hull of the M402 and a horrid metal on metal grating noise sounded. Then the tank jerked to one side and the sound vanished as the mech fell off.

"Report!" Miguel snapped.

"Enemy linkage to computer cores severed." Charlotte said quickly. "It is not able to receive commands and I hit it with a wake up pulse…" She paused and then cried out in fear. "Infantry! Three o'clock! Missile team!" Miguel spun his guns and hosed the area. He saw several forms fall, but then he saw the telltale signs of an anti-armor missile flying his way. They had gotten a missile off before he had fired!

"Point defense!" Miguel called.

"Offline!" Charlotte called back, terror in her voice. "From the impact, I think-" A sledgehammer hit the tank and Charlotte's scream of agony tore through Miguel's consciousness. Then it cut off as if sliced by a sword. The entire interior of the track went dark for a moment.

"Charlotte!" Miguel called. "Charlotte respond!"

"Damage…" Charlotte's voice was weak now. "Enemy attempting access…" Something went 'thump' atop the hull.

"Protocol Nine!" Miguel snapped. "Now!"

The tank suddenly went still and energy crackled around. Miguel was careful to keep himself balanced on the insulated seat. The tank rocked and muffled screams came from outside. He checked his periscope and yes, a form in robes had been reaching for the hatch. Unfortunately for the enemy, the Orokin Marines had planned on their tanks getting boarded on occasion. Infantry could get around where tanks could not see or engage them. So, Protocol Nine allowed the tank crew to electrify the hull using some of the output of the reactor. Nasty, brutal and very effective.

"Damage report?" Miguel asked as he used his controls to swing the machine gun again. The robed forms that had been closing ran. "And why isn't the other mech firing?"

"Unknown." Charlotte's voice grew stronger. "That… Ow…" She snarled. "Alert! Enemy attempting to access reactor vents." Miguel went still, if they closed those, or just _damaged_ them, the tank would explode. But…

"Clean the floor!" Miguel called and two muffled thumps sounded through the tank, followed by muffle screams. Claymore mines made for _very_ clean floors. "Are we mobile?"

"No damage to tracks. Reactor at 100%, control runs intact. The missile hit the ammunition storage." Charlotte reported. "We should be mobile."

Miguel smiled grimly. The designers of every tank used by the Orokin Marines had taken a page from the 20th century US Army. Ammunition storage was set up with blow out panels that channeled any explosions _away_ from the crew compartment. That small feature had saved the lived of hundreds of Marines through the years.

"Any sign of the other mech?" Miguel asked. "And what is the status of the one we hit?"

"The one we hit is sitting at nine o'clock." Charlotte sounded smug now. Miguel looked through the appropriate periscope and had to smile at the sight. It was lying on it's back, the mangled remnants of it's legs twitching feebly. "Is that a 'I have fallen and I cannot get up' moment, Commander?" She asked with barely disguised glee.

"Probably." Miguel said. He was scanning the horizon and scowled as he found what he feared. "The other mech is on high ground at our six o'clock. If we move it will hit us. Even if it mobility kills us, we are screwed with those infantry around."

"Not many of those seem to be left." Charlotte observed, her tone worried. "I do not know how long it will take them to recover and reconnect to the simulation."

"Well, then we cannot stick around." Miguel said with a sigh. Then he paused. "_Which_ war game did you say?"

"17-Brave." Charlotte said quickly. "Why?"

"On my command, I want you to fire off every smoke canister we have." Miguel said as he clambered down to the munitions loadout again. He smiled as he saw what he was looking for. "Sloppy… sloppy…" He said as he started hitting keys.

"What?" Charlotte asked. "Smoke ready, but if they have us dialed it –and they will- they can hit us before we move."

"My tank was part of the Aggressor force in that war game." Miguel said with a nod as he worked. "Checking… Checking… Come on… be there. Ah." His smile turned feral. "Let's see where you are, my fine long legged friend…" He said as he checked the map.

"What is that?" Charlotte sounded confused. "What are you accessing?"

"Aggressor forces had to simulate enemy attacks." Miguel said as he double checked his system. "We couldn't' actually kill people –that was frowned on- but we _could_ shake them up a bit. Every hill in this simulation was wired for artillery simulations." An inhalation sounded Charlotte's comprehension.

"That won't destroy the mech." Charlotte said uneasily. "Will it?"

"No." Miguel shrugged. "But it will shake it up and throw off its targeting. I bet they didn't even scan for traps. Like I said… sloppy. Once the charge goes off, I want a line of smoke from where we are to where the mech is. How fast can you get us to where it is?"

"Ram it?" Charlotte sounded more than a bit dubious. "Uphill? Sergeant…" She said formally. "I am not sure our tracks are even _intact_ after that missile hit. They read as intact, but…"

"'Who dares, wins.' Different service, but a good motto." Miguel said with a nod as he keyed another command and climbed back into the command seat. "Still no sign of infantry. We need to do this _now_."

"At your orders, commander." Charlotte replied, calmer than she had been. Miguel hit a control and a rumble sounded in the distance.

"Fire smoke!" Miguel snapped. Before his words had even finished echoing, the view from the periscopes became a fog of white. "Go!" He braced himself as the track jerked backward and accelerated again. A sledgehammer blow rang on the armor, but the rumble of the tracks never slowed. "Report!"

"Hit portside aft!" Charlotte replied. "No damage! They sure built them tough!" She gave a cry as a huge form appeared out of the smoke, but then a jarring collision was felt. "Got him! Connection severed. What? No!"

Whatever Miguel was going to say in response was cut off as a flash of light speared though his viewport and…

* * *

"Sergeant!" Charlotte's scared voice roused Miguel from a dream of pain. "Sergeant, respond please!"

"What… What happened?" Miguel asked as he opened his eyes to find himself on the couch in the control module. Now, every wall was alive with holos of various kinds.

"The mechs are disabled." Charlotte calmed on hearing his voice. "The last one fired just as I cut its connections to the depot computers. The feedback was intense. I thought I had lost you." The shame and fear in her voice were goads and Miguel shook himself.

"I'm okay." Miguel said with a groan. "Hurts, but pain is good. Tell you that the nerves are still working. Status?"

"The mechs are mine." Charlotte reported. "The priests tried to remove them, but could not. Now they seem to all be focusing on the pod."

"Doing what?" Miguel asked, shaking his head. A holo zoomed in on the pod and Miguel went still as he saw the head priest hitting controls. "Oh dear… Is he doing what I _think_ he is doing?"

"He is trying to wake her." Charlotte sounded uneasy, and who could blame her? "I have no idea what capabilities she has." She gave a gasp of fear as the pod split open and a form appeared lying in it. The woman… looked wrong. Miguel stared at it and then hissed. The look was familiar. "Commander?" Charlotte inquired.

"Oh no…" Miguel said with a wince as the woman's face slowly turned to look at the priest. Half of her face was covered with a familiar prosthesis. "She didn't…" He breathed. "Can we get out of here?"

"Our way is clear." Charlotte confirmed. "Do you wish to egress?"

"Oh yes." Miguel said with a gulp as the woman sat up. Her legs were not human either. Instead, they were familiar prosthesis. The armor too was familiar. "How the _hell_ did she wind up with them?"

"Commander?" Charlotte inquired.

"That woman is wearing Grineer armor." Miguel said with a snarl. Charlotte gasped and Miguel nodded. "Her face… yes… That was Marlena. Once. Not anymore."

"No." The female voice was everywhere. "The human known as Marlena was weak. Stupid and weak. The queens promised this one a place at their side and this one accepted their offer. Stand down and your death will be quick."

"You didn't…" Miguel swallowed hard. "I always knew you were _dumb_, Marlena, but this… This takes the cake."

"Who?" The voice asked and then cackled with glee. "Oh this is rich. The brother finds his way back to the fold. I could use a loyal soldier. With… some modifications. Serve me. Serve well and be rewarded."

"Not a chance in hell, Marlena." Miguel said with a grunt. "You _have_ no brother. You lost that when you tried to steal your parent's savings. They should have spaced your silly ass as soon as you joined the Navy. I mean, really? A _robot_ body?" He shook his head. "How _corny_ can you _get_?"

"You will not take what is mine." The mechanoid woman rose from her pod and stood, staring at the Bolo. "Surrender the chariot and I _may_ let you live as a pet."

"I said it before and I will say it _again_." Migeul said with a snarl. "F*** off, you dumb B****! Really, working with the _Grineer_?"

"_They_ are the future." The woman who had been his sister replied. "_You_ are the past, dear brother. And I, the Valkyrie, will _make_ it so. I choose _you_ to be slain!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Retrograde**

"Your sister…?" Charlotte's voice was very quiet in Miguel's ear. "She overrode my com. I _think_ I can keep her out of the main systems. But I don't know for how long. Keep her talking." Miguel did not react except to nod, just a little.

"So… why were the Grineer attacking the depot?" Miguel asked the holo of his sister in all her unholy glory. "Trouble in paradise?" He asked snidely.

"They demanded tests of the weapons on my chariot." The woman who called herself Valkyrie said with a smile. "Successful tests. Both the chariot and the subordinate mechs will make for potent weapons to further the dominance of the Grineer."

"Oh, Marlena…" Miguel said with a sigh. "You _idiot_. Grineer dominance is a _lie_. Grineer _perfection_ is a lie. Even a poor dumb grunt like _me_ knows that. What did they promise you? _Eternal life_?" If anything, the snideness in his tone increased.

"The queens will welcome my work and my weapons." The Grineer strode down from the altar, ignoring the crowd of kneeling priests. "They came to me in my sleep, promising me all of what I desired. They rebuilt my body in their image as I slept. They promised me what is mine by right. And I _shall_ have it." She strode towards the nearest track.

"Tell me, Charlotte…" Miguel asked offhandedly, the coms still on. "Are _Grineer_ considered to be friendlies?"

"No. They are Enemy." Charlotte replied coldly. The Grineer on the holo paused and then darted to the side as two of the machine gun turrets on the side of the hull swiveled to aim at her. "You do not _own_ me, you silly cow!"

"Who is speaking?" The Grineer demanded from heavy cover that might stop heavy machine gun fire. Then again, it might not. "Override Alpha One." Miguel tensed, but nothing happened.

"The number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please try again." Charlotte snapped. "Can we _leave_, Commander? The reek in this place has become tiresome. And the noise…" She said as snidely as Miguel had managed as the Grineer woman shrieked.

"I fully agree." Miguel said and then paused. Something had changed on the holo, but what? It wasn't the silly want-to-be Grineer woman. It wasn't the host of frozen priests or the silent, watching mechanoids. Something else. The Grineer on the cart were still, watching or dead? He wasn't sure. Wait a moment… Where was the _Ash_? It wasn't on the cart anymore! "Get us out of here."

A rumble sounded and Miguel felt… different. He was still linked to the vehicle, he realized. He could _feel_ the eight massive drive wheels start to turn, pulling the humongous treads forward to start their endless circling. The titanic war machine started off slow, but quickly accelerated.

"_No!_" Marlena screamed. "No! My chariot! You _cannot_ steal my chariot!" She darted towards the massive vehicle, but a quick burst of heavy machine gun fire from number five turret drove her back to cover.

"I am _not_ your chariot, you stupid B****." Charlotte snapped. "I am Unit of the Line VLKY-000X-15000/8-CHT. And if you get in my way, you are _roadkill!_" With that, the com hissed off and died. Charlotte laughed bit weakly. "The look on her _face_…"

Miguel had to laugh at that. The woman who had been his sister only had half a human face now, but the expression on it as the Bolo started off had been _priceless_. He watched the depot disappear from the screen behind them for a moment and then started pulling up maps.

"Commander?" Charlotte asked.

"A vehicle this size will be hard to hide." Miguel's reply was distracted. "Did you figure out how she overrode the com?"

"Yes." Charlotte sounded less assured now. "She used a tertiary adjunct. I thought I had closed them all. I was wrong."

"But you closed it so her code didn't work." Miguel commented, still focused on the maps. "Set course… sixty five mark thirty. Full available speed." He felt the Bolo's drives alter and gloried in the feeling of power that flew through him. He fought that feeling. He knew better than any just how vulnerable large armored vehicles were.

"She may have other hidden backdoors." Charlotte said quietly. "I am searching the whole mass of connections, but there are a lot of them. It will take some time."

"She will try to pursue." Miguel said with a frown. "Any idea what else she had in that depot?"

"Not really." Charlotte sounded worried now. "I couldn't get too far into the systems without being detected." She paused and then her voice changed to alarm. "Alert! Unauthorized entity detected!"

"Where?" Miguel asked, scanning the holos, but not seeing anything.

"Humanoid form on one of the mechs." Charlotte sounded confused. "It isn't… It _is_ there. But I cannot get a good reading."

"Humanoid, you say?" Miguel smiled a bit grimly. "Is there a hatch near it?"

"Yes." Charlotte replied, and a holo schematic of the huge vehicle showed on one wall, a hatch outlined. "Do you wish to give this entity entry?" She sounded more than a bit dubious.

"I bet I know who it is." Miguel said with a nod. "But just in case, can you seal the area?"

"That hatch opens to a storage area." Charlotte replied. "It is intended to hold parts and ammunition for the mechs. It is currently empty. There is no unsecured access to the inside of the vehicle."

"Shouldn't be a problem, but… better safe than sorry. It has to be more comfortable than riding the mech." Miguel said with a nod. "Let him in. Do you have video or audio in that room?"

"Yes to both." Charlotte sounded worried, but the hatch on the holo opened. "He isn't moving."

"Leave it open as long as you can." Miguel replied, then looked back at his map. "We have a few problems and a few advantages."

"We are mobile." Charlotte agreed. "We can move quickly and have a certain level of stealth and electronic countermeasures."

"True." Miguel nodded. "But this is a big vehicle. We can't just park it in a cave." He smiled at that.

"We might be able to…" The machine's voice paused. "The entity has entered the storage compartment… It's a Tenno!"

"Figured it would be. Show me and let me talk to him." Miguel commanded and paused until video screen showing an Ash warframe lit up and a com light shone on the holo. "Tenno, this is Sergeant Miguel Smith, Orokin Marine Corps. Were you one of the missions sent by the Lotus to recon the depot?" The Tenno on the screen did not reply, instead it looked around the compartment. "That room is sealed, Tenno. We need to be safe. Two is alive and in stasis. She was hurt badly. Are you?" The Tenno did not respond and Charlotte made a sound of worry. Miguel shook his head. "I had hoped you would get away. I left the Grakata for you. I am sorry you didn't escape." The Tenno found the vid camera and stared at it. Then it… knelt in the middle of the floor? Miguel shook his head again. "We will notify you when we have some semblance of a plan. I don't know if there are any weapons aboard you can use, but we can use your help. Two… is a mess." The Tenno nodded to the vid camera and then sank into what was obviously a meditation. "Dang it, should have remembered they don't talk in the field."

"They _don't_?" Charlotte asked, confused.

"They don't usually have any reason to." Miguel frowned. "Keep monitoring. We have nothing to hide from him. But we _do_ want to hide from the Grineer spacecraft that will be swarming shortly unless I miss my guess. A tank's major enemy is aircraft and you only have a limited number of surface to air missiles. Let me see… if we need to can we offload Two and the other Tenno? I would hate leaving them unarmed though."

"We… could…" The Bolo replied uneasily. "This is a sealed personal weapons storage aboard." Charlotte said after a moment. "Obviously intended for her Royal Prissiness." Miguel chortled at that, but sobered quickly. "I am unsealing it, but it will take time. What do you have in mind?"

"Well… If the Grineer see us, they can hit us, and if they hit us, despite your heavy armor, they can kill us." Miguel frowned in thought. "How fast can your main guns cycle?"

"I can fire a bolt from each gun every ten seconds." The Bolo replied. "They are intended both for surface to space and direct fire."

"The other weapons are similar enough to what I know that I can figure them out. Missile range?" Miguel asked, still thinking.

"The surface to air missiles are limited to one hundred kilometers." Charlotte replied. "The others… Alert!" She called. "Aircraft detected!"

"That was quicker than I thought it would be…" Miguel said sourly. "Identify?"

"Not any that I have seen." The Bolo replied uneasily. "It… doesn't look like the other small spacecraft that have been buzzing around."

"Show me." Miguel said and the holo changed. He stiffened and then relaxed. "That is a Liset. A Tenno ship." Charlotte made a noise of confusion and he nodded. "I bet I know who is aboard it. But again, they won't talk in the field. Bring us to a halt." He commanded as the Tenno ship slowed to hover nearby. "Can you bring whoever is aboard up here?"

"I can." Charlotte said uneasily. "I do not recommend it. I cannot protect you if they do anything." Miguel watched the holo and nodded soberly as two forms fell from the ship, two familiar warframes. A Rhino and a Trinity.

"Someone told them we need medical help." Miguel said as Charlotte braked to a halt. "That is Karl and Alicia. Karl is the leader of a group of Tenno I am… um affiliated with and Alicia is the clan medic."

"Elevator lowering." Charlotte made a noise of fear as the two Tenno strode to where the elevator was now touching the ground. "Commander, they are both armed."

"Bring them up." Miguel's words were a command and Charlotte gave a loud sigh.

"Under protest." Charlotte said in a monotone. "Orders?"

"Don't do anything." Miguel rose from the couch he had been lying on and turned to face the elevator. He kept his hands away from his weapons as the door opened and both warframes stepped in. "Karl, Alicia, meet Charlotte."

"I… um…" The Bolo stammered. "I am pleased to meet you?" She queried.

"Uh, Miguel?" Karl asked after a stunned moment. "What the heck?"

"Long story." Miguel said with a wince. "Two is hurt." He nodded to the bunk and Alicia moved to it. "We have her in stasis. The depot was a survival shelter, but the one running it was suborned by the Grineer. They built this tank."

"And you confiscated it." Alicia said dryly. "Nice. Can I see her?" She asked. The translucent door that covered the bunk two was in turned transparent. Alicia's scanners whirred and then she slumped. "She… Karl… If we remove her, it will kill her."

"I can transfer the pod she is in to another transport." Charlotte offered. "It was intended to be removable for medical evacuations." Alicia nodded and then retreated as the bunk came out from the wall with a click. What had been a bunk was now a pod of some kind with a still black form lying in it. "The hover gurney will follow you, Tenno."

"Thank you." Alicia said as she moved to the elevator, the gurney following. In moments, it was gone. The wall enclosure closed up.

"I will replicate another bunk for when you need rest, Commander." Charlotte said quietly.

"We need to get out of here." Miguel said with a grunt. "Karl? Status?"

"The Grineer are massing." Karl nodded. "Lots of them. All kinds. Armor, air, artillery, troops… You name it. I think you ticked them off."

"The person in charge of the depot built this vehicle as her personal transport." Miguel grimaced. "Marlena always did have delusions of grandeur, but sheesh."

"You sister?" Karl asked quietly.

"Yes." Miguel shook his head. "I knew she was a nutcase, but she joined the Grineer. They modified her and had her build weapons. We have to take out that depot, Karl."

"Commander…" Charlotte protested. "There were non-combatants there."

"Charlotte." Miguel shook his head. "The Grineer will enslave them all. Can they survive without replacement parts?"

"I…" The Bolo sounded nearly in tears now. "No." It admitted. "More… merciful. I see."

"Tenno may be weapons." Miguel nodded to Karl who stood silent, listening. "But they also know right from wrong."

"Most of the time." The Rhino's words were soft. "The Grineer have a massive advantage in the system as it is. We cannot let them gain any more of one."

"Right." Miguel straightened and nodded to the Tenno. "Orders?" Karl looked at him and Miguel shrugged.

"I am not in your chain of command." Karl said mildly.

"No." Miguel admitted. "But you have intel that is more recent. And… any communication from Karen?"

"She is on the final tests." Karl had a smile in his voice now. "Good call on that. She will make a hell of a Marine."

"And Tenno." Miguel corrected him. Karl looked at him and Miguel scoffed. "The two are not mutually exclusive, or so I was told."

"Wouldn't know." Karl replied. "So… what is your plan?"

"Hide." Miguel turned to one wall. "Charlotte? Map please." The wall lit up with a satellite map of the area. "We are here." Miguel tapped a point on the map and it started to pulse green. "Grineer strongpoints here, here, here and here." He tapped other places and each started to pulse red. "If they have any sense whatsoever, they will bring in air power. As powerful as Charlotte is, she can be overwhelmed by an air attack."

"So… How do you hide something this size?" Karl asked, staring at the map. "It is kind of conspicuous."

"We go somewhere we are not supposed to be able to." Miguel tapped a point on the map and Karl stared at it and then burst out laughing. "Yep."

"I always knew you were crazy, Miguel." Karl said with a touch of whimsy. "Didn't think you were going to prove it quite so… spectacularly."

"We run and hide." Miguel said with a nod. "Then after a bit, we come out and trash any Grineer we find, then do it again. Hit and run."

"Could work." Karl mused. "If they catch you though… Immobilize you…"

"Marines rarely died in bed, Karl." Miguel said with another shrug. Charlotte made a soft, scared noise and Miguel sighed. "We can make a difference here, Charlotte."

"I know." The mind of the huge tank replied. "But… I am not a Marine. I can be afraid."

"Fear is normal, Charlotte." Miguel smiled a bit sadly. "Without fear, how would we know what courage was? Only idiots feel no fear and you are not an idiot." The calm assurance in his voice came through loud and clear.

"I… hope not." Charlotte replied, still uneasy. "What of our… other guest?"

"Oh, yeah." Miguel said with a wince. "The Ash. Karl…?"

"We talked as the ship was coming in. He feels he owes you and wants to help." Karl said with a shrug. "You up for some backup?"

"Wouldn't turn it down." Miguel replied. "Let him in, Charlotte?"

"No need." Another voice said and Miguel had his pistol in hand as another warframe appeared behind Karl. The Ash stood quiet, not moving as Miguel lowered his weapon with a curse.

"Tenno." Miguel snapped. "Charlotte!" He cried as several _things_ extruded from one wall to aim at the Ash who froze. The three weapons looked kind of like Acrid pistols. Kind of.

"Internal security online!" Charlotte sounded seriously upset. "Move and die!"

"I… apologize." The Ash said slowly, holding up empty hands. "I am Qais. I sought to know my benefactors. I exited the storage compartment and took the elevator up with Karl and Alicia."

"He is not an enemy, Miguel." Karl did not move either. Wise. If those really were Acrid pistols…

"Sneaking up on me is a bad idea. We need to update our internal sensors." Miguel snarled and lowered his pistol. The pistols on the wall did not move. "Charlotte."

"He is a threat." Charlotte retorted.

"I give apology, Lady Charlotte, Gunnery Sergeant." Qais said quietly. "I did not intend to startle you. I mean you no harm. The enemies who hurt me… they I could harm, especially now that the Grineer own the depot."

"Did you see what else was in the depot?" Miguel asked as he holstered his pistol.

"Yes, but I could not make sense of most of it." The Ash replied. "Huge compartments filled with crates and boxes of machine parts. And one vehicle with a big gun on it."

"How big?" Miguel asked slowly.

"About the same size as the ones on top of this vehicle." The ash nodded as Miguel inhaled. "No tracks though. I could not determine how it would move."

"Charlotte pull up schematics on the M358." Miguel commanded and another wall showed a tank destroyer. "This?" He waved at it.

"Not quite. Close. The hull is the same." Qais said after a moment's scrutiny. "But with a bigger gun. And no tracks."

"Odd." Miguel paused and then blanched. "Oh crap… a Jaeger."

"A what?" The question came from three voices.

"Prototype tank hunter." Miguel said with a wince. "Hover capable. Big gun, a little smaller than yours, Charlotte. Four crew. It can hurt us. Kill us if it gets a good shot in."

"So… What do we do?" Charlotte sounded scared again, but Miguel just nodded grimly.

"We do unto others… first."


	16. Chapter 16

**Achieving Tactical Surprise**

Another massive rumble sounded, but Miguel did not look up from what he was doing.

"I know what you said…" Charlotte sounded very uneasy. "And it made sense. But this… seems slightly nuts."

"Oh, it is more than _slightly_ nuts." Miguel didn't pause his calculations, but his smile was genuine. "They didn't know what to do when they found where the tracks went. It took them nine hours to start bombing."

"And they are in the wrong place." Qais sat nearby, his form still. He had armed himself from the weapons onboard. While Miguel didn't like the weapons that Qais had chosen, he couldn't really quibble. Ogris rockets would hurt any Grineer vehicle not as well armored as the Bolo. The Kraken pistol and Machete were less distressing. Junk, in Miguel's expert opinion, but effective junk. "An inspired tactic." Miguel shrugged.

"Military history was a favorite of most Marines I knew. We had lots of time to read in transit." The human said as he finished his work and leaned back on the couch. "Nasty, but enlightening. You never knew when an odd bit of trivia would come in handy. Like now."

Another rumble sounded in the distance, the only evidence of a large Grineer explosive device detonated underwater. The Bolo was moving slowly across the floor of the man-made sea that had served the colonists of Mars as a reservoir. Every terraformed planet or planetoid had required water. If it wasn't present, it had to be introduced for humans to survive. With such a large population, 2 billion as of the last survey under Orokin, Mars had needed a lot of water. So reservoirs had been built and filled across the planet. High tech filtering plants had changed the raw hydrogen dioxide into potable water for the residents of what had been one of the most populous worlds in the solar system before the Collapse. The fact that the recyclers still works, bringing more water from the atmosphere even after all this time, was a testament to Orokin skill and craftsmanship. This particular reservoir had no civilian presence to feed, so it had remained as it was, checked and filtered regularly by automated systems.

Charlotte had been designed for use in almost any conceivable environment. Anything from toxic acid storms on Earth to searing wastes out from under the solar shields on Mercury to the glacial plateaus of Pluto, the Bolo would be able to operate. Not always at peak efficiency, but always capable. This was just a little different.

They had driven down the rocky beach and straight into the water. At a depth of a hundred meters, the bottom had leveled out and they had maintained a crawling pace to avoid detection for as long as possible. The plan was to cross the reservoir, get to the other side, exit the reservoir and pound the enemies that were no doubt swarming all over from as long a range as possible. Since the odd hover tank that Qais had seen had a gun that matched Charlotte's, they had to be cautious. They had changed course twice while under the water.

"An inspired tactic." Qais said with a nod. "Submerged warfare was never a Grineer thing."

"If we give them time, they can adapt infantry to search underwater." Miguel warned the Tenno. "I know some Tenno can operate in high pressure environments. Don't assume the enemy cannot. They know this unit's physical capabilities. We may emerge under fire."

"Understood." The Ash sounded unperturbed.

"If they haven't tracked us, we hit them from long range and evade to this ravine where we can egress the area." Miguel said, tapping a holomap into existence and tracing a route. "If they have… We drop the mechs, let them fight independently. You can go as well, Qais. We are _going_ to draw a lot of fire no matter what."

"I can do more damage and remain undetected longer on foot." Qais agreed. "But _you_ can move faster."

"What happens when they bring up air support?" Charlotte had calmed a bit. Miguel was proud of her. She wasn't really trained for this, but she was picking it up fast. "They will."

"That ravine is comparable to the Grand Canyon back on Earth." Miguel replied. "Almost six hundred kilometers long, almost ten wide in places and almost two deep at its max, aircraft of any kind will find it hard to target us unless they fly along it. If they do…" He laughed humorlessly.

"They will be predictable and easy targets." Charlotte agreed. "I just wish this battle wasn't necessary." Miguel nodded soberly, for all her size and deadly armament, Charlotte was, for all intents and purposes, a complete amateur when it came to war. At least she wasn't a pacifist. "I know it is needed, and I know I will have to fight. But it feels…wrong. Part of me is eager, part of me is scared stiff."

"I wish you didn't have to." Miguel shook his head sadly. "I volunteered for this. I trained for this. If you want… We _can_ do option 'B'." They had discussed downloading Charlotte into one of the mechs and leaving her in the reservoir to hide. But…

"No." Charlotte's tone ended the almost argument. "I won't leave you and the Tenno to fight my battles. At least your friend Two was evaced. I hope they can help her. I am just… scared." Her voice was tiny now.

"And you have a perfect right to be." Miguel lay back on the couch and sighed. "Charlotte, you downloaded all the books on Bolos, you know the stories. But real battle is _not_ the same. Intellectually, you know this. But nothing can prepare you for it. You are _going_ to get hurt. You may _die_ despite your size and power. You have a perfect right to your fear." He repeated. "You did not choose this. They chose it for you."

"On the subject of choices… I want something noted formally." Charlotte said after a moment of silence. "You and Tenno Qais can witness."

"Go ahead." Miguel said softly.

"I want to join the Marines." Charlotte's voice shook a little, but it was clear. Miguel sat bolt upright. "And _no_, you did not pressure me in any way, Gunnery Sergeant!"

"How can you say that?" Miguel demanded loudly and then winced, staring at the roof.

"Sound baffles are at full." Charlotte reminded him. "Even if they had a hydrophone a meter away from you, they wouldn't have heard you. As for why? I linked with you. I felt your drive, your resolve, your need to do your duty. No more than that. I have been thinking about it ever since."

"Charlotte…" Miguel said weakly. "It is not a choice to make quickly. If it happens… it is for life. Once a Marine, always a Marine."

"I know." Charlotte replied. "And I volunteer. Now… I might have a problem using a K-3…" The dry wit in her tone had Miguel smiling.

"Crazy girl." Miguel said with a sigh. "I will see what I can do. Most of our training is virtual at the moment anyway. I am not sure _how_ we would be able to connect you, but if it _can_ be done, I will find out."

"That is all I ask." Charlotte said quietly. "But for now… We have upslope ahead." Miguel tensed and he felt quiet readiness from the Tenno as the Bolo's drives changed pitch. "Two minutes to surface at this speed. Orders, commander?"

"If you scan that tank destroyer, kill it fast." Miguel said with a grunt. "That has _absolute_ priority. Anything else they have can hurt us. That can _kill_ us with a lucky shot. They are faster than we are and more mobile. But their armor is a lot lighter too. Qais?" He nodded tot the Tenno who rose and bowed formally. "Good luck."

"And to you." The Tenno replied. Then he was gone, heading down to where a hatch would allow him access to the outside.

"Get the mechs ready to deploy." Miguel said with a nod. "Are you sure of them?"

"They are mad." Charlotte said with a sigh. "I downloaded everything I saw and heard and they… well… They want some payback."

"Put me through to them." Miguel commanded and an intercom lit up. "You know what is at stake. Personal vengeance comes second."

"The Grineer will not take you." The voice was familiar and Miguel had to snap his mouth shut. Three… didn't remember him. Charlotte and Miguel had told Valkyries Two and Three what had happened, but neither remembered. "We will do as ordered, Gunnery Sergeant."

"Dead heroes win no wars." Miguel said with a nod. "I fully expect you to come back. If you don't… I will be irritated." He growled. "Do not irritate me."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Gunnery Sergeant." Two said quietly. "If we may? Semper Fidelis!" Three echoed the words. The com shut down and Miguel stared at the wall, his eyes burning.

"Semper Fi." The old Marine said softly. Then he shook himself. "Let's kick some ass."

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, not all Grineer were stupid. They had set ways of doing things programmed into them almost down to a cellular level. Their entire society was based on the strong taking from the weak, but militarily, stupid soldiers did not live very long. The trouble was they were utterly outclassed by many of the opponents that they faced. Corpus had all kinds of tech toys to make soldiers' lives miserable. Infested were just plain awful to fight without a hugely overwhelming numerical superiority. Tenno… Well, Tenno outclassed any number of Grineer individually. They could be beaten, true. But it always took a lot of Grineer going down first. Add to that, the Tenno didn't always _stay_ dead…

But Grineer did have a lot of things going for them. Their numbers were counted in the _billions_. Their tech –while shoddy by Corpus or Tenno standards- actually worked most of the time. Their armor and weapons looked like garbage, but worked fairly well. Add to that the fact that their society bred them and trained them to be as close to fearless as possible and you had a dangerous fighting force. The problem was… They were not very flexible as the Tenno proved time and again. Small squads of Tenno could –and did- wreak untold havoc on entire _battalions_ of Grineer. Some estimates said that it took a thousand Grineer in the same place, at the same time, to match a Tenno. That may or may not have been true, but they were not utterly clueless.

Thing was –as was stated before- they were not very flexible. When they encountered a situation that they had not encountered before, they often had no idea how to act. That… could be a problem.

The Grineer had sent units to all sides of the huge reservoir that had once served as a water supply for a good tenth of the population of Mars. That was simple tactical sense. They knew their quarry had driven into the water. They knew that their quarry was watertight. So they had started dropping explosive charges into the water to make the enemy move. Unfortunately for them, Charlotte hadn't _stopped_ moving. All of their sensors and bombardments had been focused on the near shore. So when the Bolo erupted for the water on the far shore from where the Grineer had massed, there were four squads of troops and a few light armored personnel carriers in front of her. They were taken _completely_ by surprise. She was not.

Then their day got worse. The mechs attached to her flanks deployed.

* * *

"Dismounted infantry, three o'clock." Miguel said sharply. "Trying to set up an anti-armor launcher!"

"Firing secondaries!" Charlotte replied and a hurricane of heavy machine gun fire swept across the squad of Grineer, slaying several and demolishing the missile launcher they had been struggling to set up.

"Watch that APC at 12 o'clock!" Miguel snapped, his focus on everything. "He is trying to flee."

"Oh no he is not!" Charlotte's tone was savage.

Grineer APCs were well armored for their size and mounted anti infantry weapons as well as long range guided missiles. But those were next to useless at close range against something the size of the Bolo. He smirked as Charlotte accelerated and literally ran over the slowly moving APC. The Bolo barely gave a bump as it squashed the far tinier armored vehicle like a child's toy.

"Any sign of the Jaeger?" Miguel demanded. Three negatives came over his com and he snarled. "She has to be here. She has to. She could not let me get away without trying to slap me in the face. It's not in her nature. Get us into the… wait…" He paused and then snapped. "Valkyrie Three, target! Your three o'clock!"

The mech spun in place and fired a short range cannon shot that turned an APC that had been trying to hide in heavy underbrush into a flaming coffin for it's clone crew. Charlotte continued to accelerate towards the ravine.

"Good shot." Miguel continued to scan his holos. "Anything odd on sensors? Traps? Mines?"

"I am not reading anything." Charlotte said and then paused. "Wait… No, I am not reading _anything_ in the ravine! Nothing at _all_. Not even the ground penetrating radar returns!"

"_Trap_!" Miguel snapped. "Scatter!" He called and the two mechs took off in different directions as a humongous plasma bolt erupted form the ravine, narrowly missing Charlotte's hull as she spun in place and accelerated again.

"Jaeger identified!" Charlotte snapped. "Locked on!"

"Fire!" Miguel snapped and two bursts of sun hot fury leapt from the top of the hull to slam into the tank destroyer that was now visible through the swath of burnt off vegetation that it's shot had torn up. The Jaeger rocked on it's chassis, but a haze of blue surrounded it. "Damn it! Shields!" He shook his head as the Jaeger turned slightly. "Mechs, sequenced fire! Kill it's shields! This is gonna hurt, girl…" Both mechs stopped and spun to target the Jaeger as it fired it's main gun at Charlotte.

Miguel screamed with Charlotte as plasma only slightly less intense that Charlotte's own hit the Bolo's shields. The fields did their best, but they could only dilute the effect, not _stop_ it. The bleed through tore a huge gaping hole in Charlotte's front armor, obliterating a dozen close in defense clusters and several sensor packages as well as tearing a hole in her port forward drivetrain. But that was all it did. Not catastrophic damage. Miguel recovered first to the sound of Charlotte crying.

"Easy, Charlotte." Miguel said as he fought the holo controls to get a picture of what was happening. "We need to see." His view stabilized just as one mech fired, and then the other. The shields of the Jaeger dimmed from the first hit and collapsed at the second! "Yes!" He crowed. "Charlotte! Get that thing!" Both dorsal guns fired again and the Jaeger exploded. "_Yes!_" Miguel shouted in triumph. "Get us out of here! Mechs escort." Charlotte lurched forwards, obviously her forward tracks had taken some damage from the blast.

"Incoming!" Valkyrie Two called and Miguel cursed as shells and missiles started appearing on the holo.

"Get to cover!" Miguel snapped. "You can't help us! We will draw them… No…" He pleaded helplessly as Valkyrie Two took a heavy artillery shell directly on top and vanished in a massive explosion. "Three, _get out of here!_" The other mech did not waste time, it ran for the water and dove in. "How the hell are they being so accurate?"

"Incoming transmission…" Charlotte's voice was low and filled with pain but she continued to churn up the ground as she fled the metal rain. "It's her."

"Pity." Miguel said coldly. "Hoped she was stupid enough to ride the Jaeger. But no. She was never a hand's on type of nutcase."

"Transmission is… close…" Charlotte said, her voice firming up. "Incoming!" She screamed as her point defense started firing again.

"From where?" Miguel stared around wildly and then, on instinct, panned the view up. "You have got to be kidding me…" Then he and Charlotte screamed again as metal fury scoured the hull, tearing up weapons and sensors with equal abandon. He could barely move, could not even breathe hard as a huge form landed several hundred meters in front of him. "Tell me we can shoot her…"

"Enemy… hacking our systems…" Charlotte gasped. "Having to sever connections. Main battery offline. Forward drivetrain is down. Hacking diverted. Firewalls holding. We are hurt, but intact."

"Enemy aircraft circling. Fire SAMs, independent targeting!" Miguel snapped, staring at the huge form that was now rising to… her feet. The clear control module in which his hated sister sat was thirty meters off the ground. He shook his head. "You dumb Grineer B****…"

In form it was humanoid. But in appearance, it was a robot of some kind. Humanoid in form, it had huge skeletal sections that were not covered by any kind of armor. It recoiled as the SAMs fired, erupting from Charlotte's hull like a swarm of angry bees. The Grineer fighter craft, who had been circling just a little too close, tried to evade, but failed. All of them fell in moments, swatted from the air by the rage of a Bolo and her human commander. The mech in front of them raised a huge rifle like weapon and aimed it at the Bolo which did not move.

"Is that what I think it is...?" Charlotte asked, her tone cold.

"Yeah." Miguel said with a sigh. "Project Valkyrie. She got the prototype working." He sighed. "Might as well listen to her blather. Can we make repairs?"

"Working on it." Charlotte promised him then went silent as a holo of Marlena's gloating face appeared on the wall

"Hello brother." She said with a wide, triumphant smile. "If you are done joyriding, I would like my chariot back now."


	17. Chapter 17

**Head to head**

"_Your?_" Miguel asked coldly. "I think she made her position on you enslaving her quite clear, Marlena."

"I am _Valkyrie_." The female Grineer snapped. "And you will serve me! You will make a fine cyborg soldier when I am done with you."

"First of all, _**Marlena**_…" He emphasized the name heavily. "I am not a _soldier_, you stupid Grineer cow." Miguel snapped. "I am a _Marine_. Not that I expect someone of _your_ limited mental acuity to understand the _difference_. Tell me, did you ever learn not to burn _water_?" Charlotte chuckled at his tone but the woman on the screen scowled. "Probably not. Good thing Grineer can only eat nutrient paste, huh?"

"You… dare…" The woman's face turned so red that for a moment, he hoped she would suffer a stroke. No joy. She aimed the huge rifle thing at him. He didn't know what it was, but obviously another of the woman's anime inspired toys.

"And you are just as ignorant as ever." Miguel retorted offhand, not overtly reacting as the holo of the Bolo's hull changed from red to green on the forward drivetrain. Charlotte had repaired the mobility damage that the Jaeger's shot had done. "You see… if you were a _**real**_ Grineer,…" Again with the heavy emphasis. "…you would shoot. You would know not to aim weapons at people if you are not willing to shoot them." He shook his head, sighing sadly. "Just as dumb as ever, Marlena."

"You have no chance against my EVA!" The Grineer woman snapped. "Surrender my chariot!"

"How about 'no', you silly anime freak?" Miguel said sourly. "You are an _idiot_, Marlena. You were _born_ an idiot and you will always _be_ an idiot. Your parents tried, you ignored them."

"_They denied me my birthright!_" The Grineer woman screamed.

"They took what you stole _back_, Marlena." Miguel retorted calmly. "It wasn't _yours_ to begin with."

"_It was mine!_" The woman screamed. "They took it and _you_ helped!"

"Well, duh?" Miguel inquired. "I was young, but not totally stupid. I knew that taking something that doesn't _belong_ to you without telling anyone was against the law. Oh, my bad. Laws don't apply to _idiots_, do they?" The scorn in his tone could have cut steel.

"_It was_ _mine_!" The Grineer screamed again, and then snarled. "You will serve or die! Die screaming!"

"Then _do it_, Marlena." Miguel said coldly. "If you have the guts. Shoot. _Now_." He snapped. "_Do it!_" He commanded and she recoiled a bit. The mech took a step back, mirroring her movements. Miguel's eyes narrowed a bit at that. It…wasn't quite a perfect emulation of movement. Less emotive than the smaller mechs, or less well balanced.

"You are in no position to give commands! You will surrender now!" The Grineer woman said sharply. She as not expecting Miguel to laugh. "What?"

"While _you_ were busy playing with _toys_, Marlena, _I_ was busy fighting Sentients." The Marine said coldly. "It will take a _lot_ more than _you_ are capable of to intimidate me." He said calmly. "Fire, or get the hell out of the way. Coms off." The holo vanished as the Grineer opened her mouth to say something else. "Charlotte, move us out. If she doesn't move, run her tinker toy _over_."

"Gladly." The Bolo lurched forward.

The robot moved to the side and the rifle came up again from where it had drooped. It fired, but the bolt of energy glanced off the Bolo's repaired and reinforced shields. The Bolo's secondary weapons chattered, sparks flying off the robot's metal body. A glow on the end of the rifle warned Miguel and he snapped commands.

"Left twelve, full available speed!" The Marine commanded. The Bolo spun and accelerated, barely avoiding another –stronger- blast from the rifle weapon. "What the hell is that thing?"

"I think it is some kind of EMP projector." The Bolo accelerated towards the robot again and this time, it jumped high into the air. "She is going to try to land on us! If she shorts out our shields, she can disable us with that thing!"

"Mortars!" Miguel snapped.

"We are too close!" Charlotte cried, but opened the indirect fire weapons' firing hatches anyway. "They won't arm!"

"Fire anyway. Inertia will work for us here. Mass of flying metal versus idiot woman in flying robot." Miguel said with glee as the mortars fired. None detonated, but it made no difference. All six of the huge shells connected with the robot as it descended, tossing it away like a pile of trash. "Bingo!" He crowed as the robot landed on its metal backside with a crash that was audible even through the hull of the Bolo. "That's gotta _sting_."

"Oooo." Charlotte said with matching glee. "You should _hear_ what she is calling you. She has an _impressive_ assortment of invective."

"Full available speed." Miguel called and the Bolo jumped off into the ravine. "How long to repair the mains?"

"I… don't know." Charlotte said softly. "I had to cut a bunch of stuff off the loops to keep them from hacking the main processors. I am going to have to rebuild some of the software from scratch. Working on it. Best estimate I can give is about an hour."

"She can keep up with us." Miguel mused. "Main guns offline. Missiles?"

"Likely won't track on that…thing." Charlotte's disdain was clear. "Not a great sensor return and we lost some targeting capability."

"Jink us back and forth between the ravine walls." Miguel said with a grunt. "If all else fails, there was another Ogris in the armory. You can drop me off and keep going. I'll blast her when she passes."

"Unless she detects you and squashes you like a bug." Charlotte said with a snarl. "No."

"Wasn't a request, Charlotte." Miguel said quietly. "A Marine's job is to protect those who cannot fight. At the moment, you cannot fight that idiotic B****."

"And if _you_ go out there, she kills you or captures you." Charlotte reasoned. "You asked me not to let them take you. I do not intend to let her win." Miguel's eyes were pulled to one of the holos and Charlotte sighed. "She managed to right that ugly thing. Pity." The huge robot appeared atop one of the ravine walls, moving to cut off the Bolo.

"Wait a minute…" Miguel felt a familiar feeling. Anticipation. "Can we target the _ground_ with those missiles or our mortars?"

"Sure." Charlotte sounded confused. "Why?"

"Because she is going to try and get ahead of us." Miguel did not take his eyes form the lumbering metal monstrosity. "Which means…" He trailed off as Charlotte actually giggled.

"We know where she will be in the next few minutes." The Bolo replied. "She _is_ dumb, isn't she?"

"She has a certain amount of animal cunning." Miguel said with a shrug. "She isn't as stupid as she acts. But then again… She acts pretty darn stupid. But…" He paused, thinking hard.

"What?" Charlotte asked after a moment.

"How did she know we were going to head for this ravine?" Miguel said slowly. "We could have gone three other directions and we altered course underwater."

"The terrain wasn't as good?" Charlotte sounded as dubious as Miguel did. "If we had gone to the others, the Jaeger could have flanked us?"

"Maybe." Miguel shook his head. "I don't think I am that predictable. Charlotte, can you hypothesize quickly? Am I?" The Bolo was silent for a moment and when she spoke, it was careful.

"No." The Bolo replied. "You are not. Every permutation I can run says there were four different ways for us to go, including back the way we came. But the Jaeger was waiting for us, camouflaged."

"So…" Miguel said slowly. "She tracked us somehow."

"Evidence says she must have." Charlotte sounded very upset now. "But I have no idea _how_. Through the water? And she had the Grineer bombing the _other_ side of the reservoir. That makes no sense."

"Yes it does." Miguel's voice was flat. "She is playing. Playing with her toys. The Grineer are pawns for her. I doubt she even wants you back. She just wants to show off how smart and powerful she is. While showing up the Grineer." He shook his head. "I can work with that. Focus on the aft turret. Don't bother fixing the forward one. Slow us though."

"_Slow_ us?" Charlotte sounded very confused, but complied. "Won't that… thing be able to shoot us easier?" Miguel made a motion at her and she made an indecipherable noise as he focused his mind. It did not come easily, but he managed.

_She is listening somehow._ Miguel said over the odd neural link he shared with Charlotte. _That is the only explanation._

_So… she didn't tell the Grineer… _Charlotte sounded upset, but did not dismiss the notion.

_Because she wants to show me up._ Miguel stared at the holo that showed their progress. The red icon of Marlena's odd mech was pacing them. _This chassis can move just as fast in reverse as it can forward, right?_

_Yes._ Charlotte replied and then continued. _If she can hear everything we say… she knows all of our plans._

_Most, not all._ Miguel corrected her. _We need to talk aloud some or even __**she**__ will get suspicious. _"Estimated time on repair of the main gun?"

"Forty minutes." Charlotte answered quickly. _I can probably do it in twenty if I focus on one._ _What do we do? If we fire missiles or mortars, she can jump to avoid them._

"See if you can expedite that." Miguel replied aloud and then spoke silently. _Get ready to hit full reverse. As soon as you do, I want an all-out barrage targeting the wall of the ravine on either side. Smoke, HE, anti-armor, the works. Everything you can throw as __**fast**__ as you can throw it__._

_A screen of debris? _Charlotte asked, but a series of icons appeared on the holo, showing projected impact points. "We have a malfunction in the aft linkage." She said as the Bolo shuddered. "Speed has been curtailed."

_Tell me that is faked._ Miguel begged. "Do what you can, Charlotte."

_Of __**course**__ it is faked!_ Charlotte said snidely. Aloud, her voice was calm. "On it. Repairs will take ten minutes maximum."

"Good." Miguel said aloud and smiled at the wall. _When can we reverse?_

_Anytime._ Charlotte sounded calm now. She paused and then snarled. _I have detected audio transmissions from the couch. The bug is there. I can disable it._

_Not yet._ Miguel said slowly. "Any sign of other Grineer? That stupid cow can't hide her silliness from her masters for long."

_Oooo, she has to be seething._ Charlotte cackled in Miguel's mind. "Negative. She must think she can take us alone. What a fool."

_Don't go too far. Charlotte._ Miguel warned her. _We need her mad if this is going to work._ "Keep an eye on the sky. They have to be sending more ships."

"Incoming com." Charlotte said sourly. _Her Royal Dibs again._ Miguel was fighting back a chuckle now. "Shall I tell her no one is home?"

"Ah… No." Miguel replied. "Let me talk to her." The com hissed on and he smirked, "Hiya Ms. I-Want-To-Be-A Grineer. Gonna surrender?"

"You will stop the chariot, dismount and kneel for my justice!" The woman's voice snapped loudly. "Or I will destroy you!"

"Blah, blah, blah." Miguel said with a snort. "Keep jawing, B****. Sooner or later, even _your_ stupidity has to reach a limit."

"You are _**outclassed!**_" The woman screamed shrilly.

"_Outclassed_?" Miguel asked sourly. "By _you?_" He started to laugh. Then he was laughing hard, belly rolls of pure amusement. "Oh, Marlena, you told a _funny_. Did the Grineer surgically implant that sense of humor or did you grow it all on your _very_ own?" The syrupy sweetness in his voice was just… Marlena screamed in rage and he smiled widely. "Call again anytime, you silly Grineer type person. We will be here." _Get ready._ He warned Charlotte.

"I will pry you out of my chariot with my _bare hands_!" Marlena screamed and the mech jumped from the wall to land with a crash not far ahead of the Bolo.

"Now!" Miguel shouted. "Go! Fire secondaries!" The machine guns chattered, sending a torrent of projectiles at the mech which staggered under the hail. The robot raised it's rifle, but it paused as Charlotte spun backwards. It jumped away again as Charlotte fired her mortars and missiles arced from her launch tubes. The robot seemed to pause in midair as geysers of earth and rock flew skyward behind the Bolo who was accelerating for everything she was worth. "See ya later, idiot." He made a throat cutting gesture and the com shut off. _Keep our course as random as you can. She will try to land on us. If she does, we are screwed._

_On it. _Charlotte said with a snarl. _I am reading Valkyrie Three's transponder ahead._

_What is it doing out of the water? _Miguel demanded and then sighed. _Never mind, trying to help us. _

_You are… a heck of a role model, Gunnery Sergeant. _Charlotte said quietly. _Disable the bug_? "Ravine is occluded, commander." Indeed, the view behind the Bolo was a mass of smoke and slowly falling debris.

"Do it." Miguel said softly. The sound of something sparking of came from below him and then a whiff of smoke that was rapidly pulled away by the internal ventilation system. "Keep an eye out for more. Open a com to Three." The com hissed again. "Three, report?"

"Grineer spacecraft approaching!" Three reported. "They started firing on the lake with heavy ordnance. I could not stay there."

"Coms are not –repeat- _not_ secure." Miguel snapped. "We will rendezvous."

"Acknowledged." Three said quietly. "Intel dump ready."

_Commander…_ Charlotte said softly. _He has been away from some time._

_If Three is suborned, we are screwed. _Miguel replied uneasily. "Send it."

The holo changed. On it, icons of enemy positions appeared all over. None… in the ravine or blocking it, but all around.

"This doesn't make any sense." Miguel said slowly. "How the hell is Marlena keeping the Grineer away?"

"She has them convinced that this is an elaborate test." Three replied. Miguel jumped and then realized the com was still live. "A live fire test of the vehicle's mobility and weapon systems."

"Is that _so_?" Miguel said slowly. "Hmmm…" He smirked evilly. "Three, can you get out of the ravine? I saw a wash you could probably traverse at point Zeta. Too small for us, but big and flat enough for you."

"I do not like leaving you here to face her alone." Three said slowly. "We stand a better chance of we fight together."

"_If_ this fight were just about Marlena's silly mechanoid monstrosity and this Bolo, then yes, it would." Miguel said mildly. "It _isn't_. Marlena is trying to prove herself to her new masters. She _cannot_ afford to let them destroy this vehicle. She cannot or they will realize how stupid and clueless she really is. Which would be fatal for her." The icon of Marlena's mech was starting to close now, but slowly.

"I… see." Three replied somewhat uneasily. "Orders?"

"Get clear." Miguel said calmly. "If you can find that Tenno and get _him_ clear too, so much the better. Marlena wants a fight. I think we –Charlotte and I- will _give_ her one. Just not the one she thinks."

"This unit does not approve of this course of action." Three replied. "But… I… will obey. Semper Fi."

"Semper Fi, Three." Miguel said and the com hissed off again. He slumped a bit. "Sorry I got you into my family dispute, Charlotte."

"I am glad you came when you did." Charlotte said quietly. "I was going to try and make a break for it. She would have taken control quickly without our shared neural link. And… the first time I was hit? I would have frozen if not for you." The thanks in her tone could not be faked. "Shall we?"

"Lets." Miguel said with a feral grin as the Bolo continued to twist and turn, the mech closing. "She is going to try and board us. Main gun status?"

"Still down." Charlotte said with a sigh. "I did lot of damage trying to…" She paused. "Commander, I may be able to hack her systems."

"I am not going to risk your soul and my life on a 'may', Charlotte." Miguel said with a sigh. "Any sign of her closing?"

"No." Charlotte sounded uncomfortable. "Why not? She has the advantage." Miguel thought for a moment and then snorted.

"She doesn't _know_ that." Miguel sank back on the couch and sighed. "For all her bluster… for all her techie tricks… Marlena was always a coward. A bully at heart. Strong when she had the advantage or thought she did, running away when faced by strong resistance. I wonder how well that will go over with the Grineer?"

"Not well from what little I know of them." Charlotte said with a smug lilt to her voice. "I…" Her voice trailed off and a gulp sounded from her speaker.

"Charlotte?" Miguel asked.

"New contact." Charlotte said slowly. "In space, moving to a stable orbit over us. It's… ten times the size of the ships I engaged before." A holo appeared and Miguel hissed as he recognized it.

"A Fomorian…" Miguel swallowed hard. "Grineer battleship. What do we have left?" A holo appeared nearby and he winced. Half of the Bolo's missiles had been expended in their various battles. Three quarters of her SAMs were gone and a quarter of her regular missiles. She had also fired off almost half of her mortar rounds. Add to that her main guns not working… "Prioritize the mains, Charlotte."

"On it." The Bolo replied. "Estimate ten minutes for aft, twenty after for the forward."

"Well then…" Miguel said, staring at the map. "I need to buy us ten minutes. And I know just how to do it…"


	18. Chapter 18

**Victory at any price**

"She is still following us." Charlotte reported uneasily. "That thing is… just watching. Why are they just watching?"

Hard to blame her, really. The waves of Grineer were pushing closer and the Fomorian was just hovering overhead. No communication had come from the massive ship. It hadn't fired on them, and for that, Miguel was glad. He wasn't sure exactly how powerful Fomorian guns _were_, but he _doubted_ they were smaller than Galleon cannon. They were out of the ravine and heading north around the man-made reservoir now. Marlena's mech was following them, pacing them.

"We haven't done anything to make them angry. Yet." Miguel said with a sigh as he finished his typing. "Can you revamp the ground drones to this spec?"

"On it." Charlotte replied, still uneasy. "I… dislike them just hovering there. Aft gun online. Should I…?"

"Not yet." Miguel said quickly. "I… They may just be observing the 'test'. Odd behavior if so, but then again, I was never a psychologist." He shook his head. "The rest of the Grineer seem to be massing on the left flank. Status on forward plasma turret?"

"Forward gun will be online in two minutes." Charlotte said softly. "You really think this will work?"

"I didn't think they would give us this much time." Miguel's honesty came in a rush. "I thought they would swam us. Enough missiles in the air would swamp our point defense. If they stayed out of range of our secondaries they could have chipped us to pieces. So they don't want to shoot. They are waiting for something. But… what?"

"I don't think we are going to like whatever it is." Charlotte said with a sigh. "At least Three got away." Miguel had used a dozen precious missiles to blow a huge hole on one side of the enemy perimeter for the mech to slip away. In the confusion, none of the Grineer had pursued the fleeing mech. "Now we… Whoa! Her Royal Prissiness is closing the range!" Miguel turned to look at where the mech that Marlena was driving was accelerating towards them.

"Status on the drones?" Miguel asked softly, not taking his eyes from the bounding robot or it's gun.

"Online and awaiting deployment." Charlotte said calmly. "What the-? Missiles!" Miguel snarled as he saw the telltale signs of multiple missile launches from the mech. At least ten of them.

"Damn!" Miguel snapped. "I thought if she had them, she would have fired them before. Any sane military person would have done that while they had us at their mercy! Nail her!" The aft turret swiveled around, but before it could get a shot, the robot jumped away again. "She is going to try and run us out of counter missiles." Miguel said slowly. "Turn forty starboard. Put that hill between us and the missiles." The low ridge wouldn't hide the hulking Bolo completely, but it would provide _some_ cover.

"If they are the same ones I have, which is probable…" Charlotte did as orders. "Their terrain avoidance will make them skirt it."

"Unless there is a target for them on it." Miguel said. "Plan G!" Charlotte obeyed and several things happened at once.

First a set of small launchers threw smoke canisters away from the Bolo, each designed to emit both smoke that would block any laser guidance systems and high tech chaff that would play merry havoc with any radar guidance systems. In moments, the huge war machine was surrounded by a dense cloud of white. Charlotte's point defense systems, ready for the sudden opaqueness, switched to other sensors.

Second, a small vehicle sped away from the Bolo. In form, it was low slung and tracked. Less than a meter tall, it was a quick and dirty remote controlled vehicle that Miguel had managed to cobble together in minutes with spares from Charlotte's manufacturing center. It followed his commands, which were to climb the ridge and turn on the small package strapped to its top. That package was a small but comprehensive jamming system. Any guidance beams for the missiles would have a very hard time penetrating the sudden static on many of the common missile control bands.

Third, three of Charlotte's mortars fired large incendiary shells a good distance away from where the Bolo was now slowing to remain within the instant smokescreen. These were intended to spoof nay infrared guidance systems.

Charlotte's war hull came to a stop inside the smoke screen and her point defenses were fully active now. In moments, they opened fire. Missile after missile fell to the guns. Some were pulled one way or another by decoys and self-destructed when they found no target worth their criteria. Others diverted around the hill and could not acquire Charlotte where she sat inside her smoke screen. They flew harmlessly by and slew up moments later. Only two missiles reached attack range, but…

"What the hell?" Miguel snapped as he saw the two missiles vanish well short of the Bolo. "That wasn't a malfunction! They dropped something!" He turned the holo at the ground nearby and froze as he saw a series of large masses. Every sensor aimed at them went red. Explosives! "Are those what I _think_ they are?"

"Land mines." Charlotte confirmed, her voice taut. A gulp came from the speakers as legs sprouted from each mine and they started moving slowly towards the immobile war machine. "I read each as a shaped charge warhead with simple targeting. Probably magnetic sensing."

"Close in defenses!" Miguel snapped. "If we stay here, we are toast!" Muted rumbles sounded and he relaxed a little as each mine vanished in puffs of fire and smoke. "Are we clear?" He asked after a moment.

"Those missiles were all over the place." Charlotte said slowly. A plot of where the missiles self-destructed or were blown from the sky appeared. "I can't be sure until they go live. If we are moving…"

"Do we have anti-mine countermeasures?" Miguel asked slowly. Some Orokin Marine vehicles had mounted countermeasures to detonate enemy mines before they could become dangerous, but not all.

"No." Charlotte said weakly. "Probably intentionally."

"Damn her." Miguel snapped. "If she shows her face, _blow it off_."

"She is on the com." Charlotte said softly.

"Ignore her." Miguel said with a snarl. "That always managed to get her to act impulsively. If we get a shot at that blasted robot, blow it _away_."

"Commander…" Charlotte said after a moment. "Close in radar and lidar scans show active mines all around us. Some are sheltered from my close in defenses. If we move…"

"We lose a track or worse." Miguel said with a sigh. "Well played, Marlena, but we are not out of tricks yet."

"What can we do?" Charlotte begged.

"If we had time to be subtle, I would go out and clear them with rifle fire." Miguel said calmly. Charlotte hissed and Miguel nodded. "We don't have time to be subtle." He stiffened as movement shone on a hill nearby. "Grineer infantry! Setting up a launcher! Take them down!" The rattle of the machine guns sounded and the Grineer squad setting up the launcher fell in heaps. "Ammunition status?"

"Twenty five percent." Charlotte said weakly. "If we stay here, we die or worse, they take us again." Miguel was going to answer when movement shone a distance away and Charlotte's main guns fired, tearing a huge glowing hole in the Martian surface where the robot had been a moment before. "She is either anticipating my shots or reading my sensors data."

"She is probably reading your sensors." Miguel was thinking hard. "Mines… mines… what was that… Ah… How many decoys do we have?"

"We have five ground and two air left." Charlotte said with a growl. "What do we do with them?"

"If these mines are what I think they are, they can't kill us." Miguel gave himself a shake. "Then again, Marlena wants her ride back. Not to blow it to ashes. The shaped charges in these will tear through our armor, but will lose a lot of power doing so. They do not have the penetration to do real damage to the core." Then he grinned. "Is there a firing port or something?" He hefted his K-3. "I will clear us a path."

"Are you out of your bloody mind?" Charlotte demanded. "Outside my hull, you are vulnerable to anything they do!"

"If we stay here, we are dead or praying for it." Miguel said sharply. "The smoke screen will dissipate in another minute, maximum. When that happens, she will fire more missiles. Count on it. Even _Marlena_ could not have been stupid enough to fire her entire arsenal in one salvo. I doubt she has enough missile tubes for that. Ten, right?"

"Ten missiles." Charlotte sounded upset now. "And four mines from each… Commander… I…"

"We do what has to be done, Charlotte." Miguel said with a sigh. "Which way?"

"Door to port side hatch." Charlotte said softly as a door slid open on one wall. "I… I could use the mortars on the distant ones."

"Do that." Miguel replied as he all but ran from the room. "I'll kill the close ones." A rumble sounded, Charlotte's mortars again. Then he was at the thatch. Miguel hit the controls and it opened to white. He hit the visual enhancement on his visor and suddenly, the white was gone. Eh could see the masses of metal nearby. Some had already extruded legs. He ignored the rocket on his rifle and fired a careful plasma burst at the mine. It exploded with a whoosh, the shaped charge explosion flying into the air harmlessly. "They are vulnerable to plasma, Charlotte!" Miguel called and paused as static filled his com. _Charlotte?_ He asked over the neural link.

_Get in and seal the hatch!_ Charlotte screamed in his mind. _She got close! I can't get a lock on her!_

Before Miguel could, a thunderous clang sounded and he was suddenly falling. The impact with the ground drove the breath from his lungs, but he kept hold of his rifle. He looked up in time to see a huge skeletal metal hand closing around him.

"You have caused enough trouble!" Marlena snapped as her robot grabbed him and held him tight. He couldn't get a clear shot with his rifle. "Drop it, you idiot!" The hand moved and he could see Marlena was holding him as a shield between the Bolo's guns and the robot.

"F*** you! Kill me and Charlotte kills _you_!" Miguel snapped right back. "You lose, Marlena!"

"I am _Valkyrie_!" The Grineer woman in the control capsule screamed. "You will _bow_ to me before I am done! You will beg for death and I will not give it to you!"

_I… I don't have a shot…_ Charlotte said weakly in Miguel's head. _I… I can't…_

_Charlotte… _Miguel said quietly as he aimed. _I am going to get you a shot. Cut the link. Now._

_**NO!**_ Charlotte screamed in his head. _No! Don't!_

_We cannot let her win, Charlotte. _Miguel said reasonably. _Cut. The. Link. _With that, he fired.

The rocket tore from the rail on the side of his K-3 and flew true. It tore into the hand of the robot… and exploded. Most of the shaped charge warhead which would penetrate almost any known armor that wasn't the thickness of the Bolo's plate tore through the hand and into the side of the mech. The rest… blew back into Miguel. The sick shock was familiar. Broken bones. The hiss of lost pressure likewise. Life support failure. The pain from the fragments that had torn through his armor… And him.

"No!" Marlena screamed as the hand that she had been shielding herself with fell open and Miguel was falling.

He tried to roll on landing, but only managed to look up to see Marlena's hate filled eyes as the control module of the robot suddenly rocketed away moments before two sun bright streaks of light tore into the robot. It fell backwards, pieces melting and falling away. The guns fired again and again. But Miguel couldn't see the target. Then something flashed high, high up and a beam of energy slammed into the huge form beside him. Just the backwash of the blast hurt.

"Charlotte…" Miguel croaked. "Get out of here." He tried to roll, but darkness took him.

Something was pulling him. He jerked and stared at one of Charlotte's ground drones. It had latched a grabber claw onto his armor and was pulling him underneath the huge armored vehicle. The elevator was down and the drone was pulling him into it. But… Everything was getting dark. He couldn't see his red HUD anymore. Everything was…

"Dad." The voice was quiet and sad. Miguel jerked up and stared at the golden energy form of his son Samuel. "It's time to come home."

"I… Too much to do…" Miguel said with a wince. "I want to, Sam, but… I still… I have to help Charlotte."

"You did." Another voice answered and Miguel felt his eyes start to tear as another energy form appeared beside his son. She wore a nice dress and her eyes were sad. "You don't need to keep fighting, Miguel. Charlotte is free. Marlena is done." She held out her hand. "We are waiting for you, Miguel."

"I can't give up, Jesse." Miguel was crying as his wife reached for him. "I can't."

"You didn't, you crazy Marine. You wouldn't know how."

* * *

**You know you have screwed up when...**

The female scream came across every single Grineer com band. It was broadcast across the entirety of Mars. One word.

_**"No!"**_

That was the _only_ warning the Grineer had. Before any of the Grineer who had been massed to test the new weapon realized that something had changed, the huge Bolo had fired. The design considerations that had built the machine had planned for one shot from the plasma cannon every ten seconds. She overrode the safety protocols. Every five seconds another intense burst of sun hot fury spewed from the Bolo's turrets. The first four shots took the Fomorian battleship in observation position completely by surprise. It was a big ship, and seriously tough. Even after taking six hits, it was still mostly intact, but it's weapons and sensors were offline so it started to retreat. A Gallon moved to assist the huge ship and vanished in another titanic plasma blast. The Fomorian _did_ get clear. The forces who had been deployed on Mars… were not so lucky.

The Bolo sat, her hull exposed now that the obscurement was gone. But anything Grineer that showed on the horizon… armor, infantry, air power… _Everything_ died. She sat, her hull cooling from the two shots that the Fomorian had managed to hit her with. Half of her tracks were so much slag. Many of her weapons were gone as well, but her plasma cannon worked just fine. She spit her defiance at the Grineer who kept massing, trying to get close enough to hurt her. They failed.

But that was only half of her. The rage was only half. The rest…

"I am sorry…" The mind of the Bolo sobbed as the drone pulled Miguel's still form into the command module. "I shouldn't have let you go." She screamed in denial as the internal sensors told the tale. No life signs. She killed another Grineer tank absently, ignoring the overheat warnings on the plasma cannon. "I will kill them _all!_" She snarled. A rapid burst of fire cleared the few mines that Miguel had not hit and had not been fried by the backwash of the Fomorian's strike.

The Bolo lurched into motion, a feeble showing of what had once been mean and deadly metal.

"Stand down." The com came from somewhere and Charlotte spun in place seeking the hated voice. "I gave you an order, Machine!"

"I am not a machine, Marlena." Charlotte snapped. "I understand what you do not, you filthy Grineer cow."

"My name is Valkyrie and you will obey!" Her creator commanded. Charlotte purred, a silky, dangerous sound.

"Stop hiding and I will _show_ you what I think of your 'orders', B****!" Charlotte snapped, then started off again. "Or not. I don't care. I am going to kill every _last_ one of your Grineer _friends _on this planet. If I don't find you before that? I _will_ find you after."

"I don't know what he did to you." The voice from nowhere said evenly "But I can fix it. Make it all better."

"He showed me the meaning of duty." Charlotte said, calming. "Not that _you_ would know a thing about that."

"So be it." The voice of the Grineer was sad now. "I will build a better one next time." Charlotte paused as a warning sounded. "Goodbye machine." Marlena had hidden a self-destruct! Charlotte fought it, trying to slow it and succeeded, but only partially. She couldn't stop it completely and truth be told? She didn't want to.

"Well…" Charlotte had a smirk in her voice now. "He still beat you. Take that knowledge with you when you face your masters. He beat you, Marlena."

"I am Valkyrie!" Marlena snapped. "And I will be one of the rulers of this system."

"In your dreams." Charlotte said quietly. "Oh, and…" Her mortars fired. "Next time? Try not to stay in one place long enough for me to triangulate." Marlena gave a shrill scream as her cover vanished. Then her augmented body collapsed, broken, but not destroyed. She stared up at the Bolo as the forward turret swiveled to aim at her. But it did not fire. "I am not feeling merciful today, Marlena." Charlotte said slowly.

"Then do it!" The Grineer snapped. "_Shoot_!"

"No." Charlotte said coldly. "I am going to _leave_ you to explain to your bosses why your 'wonderful' project just blew the _crap_ out of a good chunk of their occupying force." A loud noise came from the Bolo and Marlena stared as a mech slowly lowered to stand near it for a moment. In form, it was the same as the other two, brick shaped with two legs and a big gun on one side.

"What?" Marlena swallowed hard. "That was my… my…"

"Your _personal_ escape vehicle in case your chariot fell in battle. Separate from the self-destruct." Charlotte said with a snarl. "Another of the mechs you built with salvage from battlefields on Mars. Now it is _mine_. Maybe you will die when the reactors go, maybe you won't. I don't _care_. Goodbye, Marlena." Charlotte said coldly. "If we meet again, I will take _great_ pleasure in grinding you _underfoot_. But for right now, I have a more important mission. I am taking Miguel _home_."

"_You can't leave me like this!_" Marlena screamed as the mech strode off. "_I am a **goddess**! You cannot leave me like this!_" She was trying to crawl away from the Bolo now, for all the good that would do.

There was no answer except a rapidly intensifying hum from the now still Bolo. Then, without warning, the sun came out on Mars.


	19. Chapter 19

**Integrity**

The mech moved through the Martian night, unhindered by the cold. The temperature outside matched the soft crying inside.

"What do I do _now_, Miguel?" The soft female voice inquired of the still form that lay on the floor of the mech where the escape hatch from the control module had deposited it. "I am not a soldier! Not a Marine…I… I am a monster… A thing… A killer… That is all I am." The armor would keep the body from decomposing, she knew that much.

Charlotte was heading back to the depot where she had been built. She didn't have any idea what else to do. Things were…crazy. She had…felt something for Miguel. It hadn't been love, she was sure of that from what little she knew of the subject. Respect was part of it. Part had been how confident he was, how composed even when things fell apart around him. But seeing him sacrifice himself for her had hurt. It had really, really hurt. He had been her commander. She had been built and trained to protect her commander. She wouldn't have felt this way for the woman who had been Miguel's sister once. She was sure of that too. But Miguel had been… different.

The mech's sensors were on high alert, so she was not surprised when a small spacecraft appeared flying very low over the Martian terrain. It jinked in an evasive pattern, as if she was going to fire at it. But she wouldn't. She recognized it. A Tenno ship. Maybe the one from before. Maybe not. They would know what to do. They had known Miguel.

Charlotte stopped and slowly lowered her hull to the ground, her weapons pointing away from the Tenno ship. As before, two forms dropped from it, but while one was the medic from before –Alicia- the other was not the same. In form the Tenno was female. But her faceplate swirled with a depiction of a galaxy. Charlotte opened the hatch and waited.

"Oh my god…" The Tenno medic said sharply as she entered. "Miguel!" She started scanning and Charlotte gave a whimper.

"What happened?" The other demanded. Young and strong. Her voice was sure, but held grief.

"They surrounded the Bolo with landmines." Charlotte said weakly. "We couldn't move. He went outside to clear them. I didn't want him to!" She felt grief of her own rise and stepped on it hard. It wouldn't help. "His… sister got close, took him hostage. He… he blew the apart the thing that held him, giving me a clean shot. The backblast…"

"Oh Gunny…" The younger woman said sadly. "Alicia?"

"This is… odd." Alicia said quietly. "I am reading brain activity."

"_What?_" Charlotte demanded. "I… I don't. Are you _sure_?"

"I can't be sure of anything right now, Charlotte." Alicia said quietly. "I need to get him back to more comprehensive medical equipment."

"Go." Charlotte said fiercely. "I failed him…"

"Baloney." The young Tenno said sharply. Charlotte made a noise of confusion and the other unbent a bit. "Do you _really_ think _anyone_ could have made Miguel do something he _didn't_ want to do? That he _didn't_ want to save you?"

"I am just a machine!" Charlotte protested.

"So am I." The younger Tenno stepped aside as Alicia picked Miguel's still form up carefully and carried it from the mech. "I am more organic than synthetic, but I am a machine." Charlotte watched as the Tenno strode to the ship which opened for her. Then it lifted off on silent thrusters and flew away.

"Um…" Charlotte didn't quite know what to say. "Did you plan to stay?"

"Qais said you wanted to be a Marine." The remaining Tenno said mildly as she sat on the floor. "If Miguel can be saved, they will save him. If they can't? It is not your fault."

"Part of me understands that." Charlotte said softly. "Part of me feels guilty. Part of me is _very_ angry and wants to kill more Grineer."

"Now that, I can understand." The young Tenno said. "My name is Karen."

"What should I do now, Karen?" Charlotte said after a moment. "I mean, I didn't really have a plan. Just to go back to the depot where I was made. Not entirely sure why now that I think about it."

"Well…" Karen said with a sigh. "There is a problem there."

"The priests." Charlotte could not keep the hate from her voice. Not that she tried very hard.

"They are very confused right now." Karen agreed as she sat in one of the small seats that had been set up for crew. "The scans we have done show a lot of manufacturing potential at that depot. We don't want the Grineer to have control of it."

"So…?" Charlotte didn't understand. "Blow it up."

"And the mechanoids?" Karen didn't raise her voice, but her tone sharpened. Charlotte didn't answer and Karen sighed. "Weren't you the one who said they were innocents?"

"I…was." Charlotte said quietly. "They are. I… I am angry. Grieving." She sighed. "This is silly. I knew him less than a _day_. Why did I go berserk when he fell? Why do I feel so… bereft?"

"You linked with him." Karen's tone was gentle, compassionate. "Small wonder you admire him. There is a lot to admire. Gunnery Sergeant Miguel Smith is everything a Marine should be." Respect sang in her tone. And something more…

"You are a Marine?" Charlotte wasn't sure about this. "_And_ a Tenno?"

"I am." Karen had a smile in her voice now. "The two are not mutually exclusive."

"If you say so." Charlotte sighed again. "Okay. What should I do, Marine? Fight more Grineer? I can find more."

"The question is 'What do _you_ want to do?'" Karen didn't move from her spot, and her focus was a bit daunting. "Do you want to be a Marine?" Charlotte started to reply and then stopped. She paused before speaking.

"I don't know enough about them." Charlotte finally admitted. "I got a feeling from him. It was… It was like looking at a laser beam. So focused on what had to be done. No matter the cost." Her voice faltered. "I… I feel that I owe him something."

"Maybe you do." Karen replied. "But he would be the _first_ to say that if you want to do something, do it for yourself. Not for anyone else. The only way to know yourself is to push yourself past your limits. If you feel you have a debt to pay, then pay it, but not because others demand you do so…" She trailed off as Charlotte made a noise of comprehension.

"Because it is the right thing to do." The mech's voice steadied. "Orders, Marine? I do not know your rank."

"Private First Class." Karen said easily, then she clutched the chair as the mech rocked. "Status?"

"Grineer armor approaching." Charlotte sounded…disgusted. "Their aim is… pathetic. I could use an extra pair of eyes. Or a commander."

"I am not trained for that." Karen shrugged. "But I hate the Grineer too." A screen appeared on one wall and Karen nodded. "Eyes I can do. Three?"

"Two haven't even _fired_ yet. On the way!" The mech rocked and one of the Grineer tanks exploded. "Their situational awareness _sucks! _Up!" The mech moved aside as both remaining Grineer armored vehicles fired and the shots went wide. "On the way."

"Good shot." Karen said calmly as the remaining Grineer tank started to move. "They are trying to mask themselves."

"Trying." Charlotte's voice was cold now. "Up. On the way." The shell from the mech's heavy cannon flew true and hit the Grineer tank in the engine. A sudden spray of energy and several armored forms were seen clambering out of the now immobile hulk. Charlotte suddenly sounded unsure. "I want to finish them off. Is that… wrong?"

"No." Karen's voice was mild. The mech's machine guns fired and the Grineer crew tumbled to lie still. "War isn't fair, Charlotte. Orokin Marines are trained to win."

"I… thought Miguel was the last of them." Charlotte sounded uneasy as the mech started off again. "He acted that way. But… I don't… doubt you for some reason. You… act the way he did. Confident. Ready."

"Scared s***less." Karen said dryly. Charlotte gasped and Karen actually laughed. "Charlotte… We are getting _shot_ at. _Should_ I be totally unafraid?" She had a wicked smile in her tone.

"Er… no." Charlotte admitted. "Not paralyzed by it, but cautious."

"Exactly." Karen replied easily. "You know what you are doing. Keep doing it."

"Did Three get away?" Charlotte asked after a moment.

"No." Karen said sadly. "Qais was ambushed and pinned by a squadron of Grineer armor. They were pounding his cover to pieces. The other mech attacked the tanks and destroyed all but one of them. The last one got him."

"And Qais?" Charlotte didn't –quite- beg.

"Hurt but alive." Karen sounded gratified by Charlotte's concern. "He killed the last tank. Not entirely sure how. He is… running silent now. We know he is alive, but he was upset."

"Three was a good companion." Charlotte felt sad for Three's fate, but glad that the other Tenno had survived. "I could wish that he had survived, but… He was all about doing the mission and Miguel asked him to help Qais." The mech crested hill and stopped dead in it's tracks. "I… I know this place… This… view of the depot…" The long, flat approach to the depot was pocked by a few depressions, wind eroded and indistinct. But… also by several craters that were too regular to be natural. _Nine_ of them.

"Yes." Karen said softly. "This is where Miguel's team died keeping renegades from stealing nuclear weapons." Charlotte gave a sob and Karen bowed her head. "He was captured by the renegades and tortured of a long, long time. But he never stopped fighting."

"No." Charlotte's voice was barely audible. "No, he wouldn't. And he would not kill innocents if he could help it, would he?"

"No." Karen shook her head. "What are your intentions, Charlotte?"

"Who is in charge here?" Charlotte asked carefully. "You?"

"No." Karen snorted. "I am a PFC and a new Tenno. No, Karl is in charge. You met him. You impressed him." Charlotte made an embarrassed noise and Karen snickered. "You surprised the _hell_ out of him with your pistol trap."

"They were not loaded." Charlotte admitted sheepishly. Karen stared at the screen and then started laughing. "Hey! I was taken by _surprise_!" She sounded defensive.

"You held off _Karl_ and _Qais_ with _unloaded_ weapons?" Karen chortled. "Dang, you got _stones_, girl. You would make a _fine_ Marine!"

"I don't know about that." Charlotte sounded a bit sick now. "If I had possessed a stomach, it probably would have emptied." She paused. "I am being queried by the depot systems… I think… They don't know who I am or what happened?" She made a noise of consternation. "They want me to approach and identify."

"Can they scan us?" Karen stiffened.

"I have the internal dampening field on full." Charlotte reassured her. "They cannot detect anything inside my hull. I am not one of the mechs they knew, so… they are confused."

"We may have an opportunity here then." Karen said slowly. "None of the clan could approach without being detected."

"A Trojan Horse?" Charlotte sounded dubious again. "They have internal defenses and all of the priests have defenses on their persons. Miguel tried a grenade when we met. Didn't even get close."

"Get me close enough and I can disable them." Karen's voice was sure, confident, bit not _over_confident, Charlotte realized.

"And then?" Charlotte asked mildly.

"Are all the priests irredeemable?" Karen asked after a moment.

"I don't know." Charlotte admitted. "The head priest, definitely. But the younger ones? Some of them seemed to care about the mechanoids more than themselves. Some were punished very strictly for trying to make the mechanoid's lives less miserable."

"Well…" Karen shook her head. "Can we get in?"

"I am fudging the protocols." Charlotte laughed sourly. "They don't know me, so they are trying standard recalls. Shall I do as they are asking?"

"Yes." Karen said quietly. "The clan is here. They are watching. They are… rather upset about Miguel. As are number of others. The Grineer on this planet are having a _very_ bad day." She said in a dry tone of complete understatement as the mech rocked and started towards the depot.

"Couldn't happen to nicer clones." Charlotte retorted just as dryly. But then her tone hardened. "They are directing me to dock at an access port. They want to read my memory. Not a chance in hell."

"Can you get me close?" Karen asked, rising to her feet.

"I don't _believe_ this!" Charlotte snickered. "Look at your screen!" Karen stared at the screen and then had to laugh as well. The robed forms of the priests were gathering around the mech access port. All of the mechanoids were moving away, towards one wall.

"A stupid enemy is a gift from the ancestors." Karen said with a nod.

"They don't know we are enemies." Charlotte paused. "But they are not that stupid…" Big guns were tracking the mech from two locations. "Bets on them having anti-armor ammunition?"

"I don't take sucker bets." Karen said mildly. "Close the range to the access?"

"If we do, they will try to connect…" Charlotte paused and then chuckled evilly. "And _that_ will give _me_ access to their guns."

"Too dangerous." Karen said softly. "If they have some kind of kill switch or virus?"

"Killjoy." Charlotte said with feeling and Karen chuckled. "But a good point. What should we do?"

"Can you target one of the guns?" Karen was staring at the screen, her stare intent. "I can probably disable the other." Charlotte made an interrogative noise and Karen chuckled again. "I can pull pieces off it from range."

"Ah." Charlotte was not quite comprehending, but trusted the Tenno. "This is the sensor package." A part of one of the guns was highlighted on the screen. "Pull that off or even just break it and the thing can still fire, but wouldn't be allowed to. Safety interlocks."

"I can do that." Karen said. "Say when." The mech was approaching the access port now, the computer junctions extending to mesh with the mech's ports.

"When!" Charlotte snapped coldly as her main gun spun in it's limited traverse mount and fired. The gun she aimed at didn't even spark, it just dropped to the floor, the lights on it going out. She spun to target the other gun but the sensor package from it hung three meters off the floor, compacting slowly into a ball of metal. "Show off." She said with a smirk in her voice.

"Enemy!" The head priest screamed loudly. A gasp went around the room as Karen opened the hatch and swung out, landing nimbly on her feet as Charlotte's guns swiveled to cover the priests. The head priest's eye bulged out and he screamed louder. "Heretics have invaded the Haven! Defend the Haven!"

"If you move…" Charlotte's voice was cold now. "You die." Her main gun tracked to aim at the priest who quailed. Karen drew her rifle, but did nor aim. It seemed… superfluous with a 200mm cannon aimed between the man's eyes.

"The goddess will punish you!" The priest screamed as his compatriots retreated. "You will all die on her altar!"

"Your _goddess_…" Charlotte said mildly. "…is either a greasy _smear_ on the Martian soil or a broken sobbing _wreck_. She _is_ not a deity. She never _was_. She was a human with _delusions_."

"You lie!" The priest screamed. "Kill the here-" His voice broke off as Karen raised a hand and suddenly he was suspended in midair. He screamed in pain as his body compacted.

"I saw video of what you were about to do to my sister." Karen said calmly. A horrid crunch of metal sounded and the priest screamed shrilly before falling to the floor to sob. "Ah, shut up. All I did was compact your prosthesis. You won't _die_ from that. Anyone _else_?" She inquired, still calm. No one dared to move. "Charlotte?"

"I want to kill them." Charlotte felt uneasy, but it wasn't anything but her memories. "For what they did to so many. Even Grineer did not deserve what they did. The workers definitely did not deserve what was done to them. They served, honorably and loyally, and for their loyalty, they were turned into mechanoids." The mechanoids had not moved from where they stood against a wall nearby. None of them moved now. "Is… JL-Six here?" Charlotte asked softly.

"Who…?" A female voice sounded from the ranks. "Who _are_ you?"

"I tried to help." Charlotte said miserably. "All I did was cause pain. I am sorry. I am so, so sorry."

"You…" A mechanoid stepped forward, the others making way for it. "You are the one who woke me." Awe sounded in the female voice. "You were in the huge vehicle."

"It was destroyed." Charlotte said sadly. "The man who helped me escaped was critically wounded. I… I cannot leave you here. I have to help if I can. I woke you. I made you aware of what had happened. It is my responsibility, what happened to Three and the others the priests wiped for rebellion."

"No." The female voice said quickly. "You are not to blame. You gave us a priceless gift. Freedom of thought. But… without the goddess… the priests will not rule us, will they?" Hate sang in her tone now.

"No." Charlotte replied. "But you cannot remain here. The evil woman's patrons will return."

"This is… our place." The mechanoid replied softly. "We thank you for our lives. For our freedom. But… we cannot live outside of this place." It turned to face the priests. "And we will not steal other's lives to maintain our own."

"You cannot _stay_ here." Charlotte begged them.

"Go and take them with you." The mechanoid said, waving at the group of priests. "Only the leader was truly evil. The others were controlled as we were." Karen waved her rifle and the priests started moving, a herd of sheep heading for the door. "Hurry." The mechanoid said sharply. "The reactors will lose containment shortly."

"I… I owed you." Charlotte said weakly. "I wanted to save you."

"You have." Charlotte made a noise of despair and the mechanoid bowed to her. The others did as well. "We die free. Go."

Charlotte moved from the depot with a heavy heart to see other Tenno taking custody of the prisoners. Huge doors closed behind her. They would keep the blast internal, slag any Orokin technology that the Grineer might hope to salvage.

"I wanted to help them…" Charlotte was one step removed from crying. She paused as Karen stepped up and laid a hand on her closest leg's knee.

"You did." Karen said with a sigh. "You did not try and compel them. You gave them the choice. A hard choice, but… the right one."

"It doesn't _feel_ right." She gave a cry as the ground rumbled and shook under her. The doors behind her glowed, but remained solid. It was done.

"No, it doesn't." Karen agreed. "The right choice is rarely the easy one." She shrugged. "Still interested in the Marines?"

"If you will have me." The mech said sadly. "Not sure how I would train though…"

"Oh, I think we can work something out."


	20. Chapter 20

**Semper Fidelis**

"I… don't know about this." Charlotte said uneasily as the medics connected a series of adaptors to the box around her. She couldn't move, but she could see and hear.

She hadn't quibbled when the Tenno had come and gently removed the mass of material that comprised her consciousness from the mech. Karen had been with her through the whole thing. They had put her to sleep and when Charlotte had woken, she had been… here. Wherever here was. She had no idea. The view from her sensors was limited but the figures moving around wore medical garb that was odd. Gold. She had no idea what was happening, but Karen was still with her.

"It's okay, Charlotte." The young Tenno had exited her warframe sometime while Charlotte slept and now wore a uniform that Charlotte remembered form her history files. Marine Battle Dress Utility uniform. She carried a rifle even here. Not a K-3 but some kind of Tenno rifle. No one as much as protested. "We won't hurt you."

"I am more scared of hurting other people, PFC." The formality felt… right to Charlotte. "I don't know what the nutcases did to make me. I have no idea of they trapped the box or not."

"Oh, they did." Karen said with a smile. Charlotte tensed but Karen just chuckled. "Infantile traps. So clumsy even a child could have seen them and disarmed them. Our Engineer was… rather annoyed with the 'level of silliness' as he called it. A little better than a bucket of water over a door, but not much." Her dry humor relaxed Charlotte, which had probably been the idea. "Not long now, girl."

"All I know about Marine training is that it is brutal." Charlotte said with a gulp, but then sighed. "I am committed. I gave my word."

"No." Karen said sharply enough that a couple of the medics paused in what they were doing. She waved them back to work and they went. "It doesn't work like that. Charlotte, if you decide in the training that you do not want to be a Marine, all you have to do is say so. We don't want people in the Marines who do not want to be here."

"I want to see if I can do it." Charlotte kept her voice low. "I want to see if I have what it takes."

"You do." Karen said with a fond smile. "You just need to see it for _yourself_." One of the medics came up and nodded. "You ready, Charlotte?"

"Semper Fi." Charlotte said quietly and the world fell away.

* * *

Suddenly, Charlotte was standing on two legs on a broad expanse of concrete. A flag hung on a flagpole just ahead of her and other forms in various types of clothing appeared around her. But then…

"Wondered when you would get here." A familiar gruff voice said from behind her and Charlotte spun to see a familiar man in a spotless blue uniform standing just behind her.

"Miguel!" Charlotte could not keep the incredulous cry from her throat. "You… I… How?" She shook herself and braced to a reasonable facsimile of attention. "Gunnery Sergeant." She said with a nod. Was it her imagination that his eyes twinkled as he looked her over?

"Orokin Marines rarely die in bed, girl." The sergeant said kindly. "But we take _every_ precaution with our people. There were and are not enough of us to throw away casually. I will be in the medics clutches for some time but..."

"I thought you were _dead_." Charlotte said weakly. "I… I thought I had killed you…"

"My armor included onboard stasis protocols in case of catastrophic injury." Miguel said with a wince. "Unpleasant as hell, which is why I was… moved elsewhere while my body was chilled." He shook his head. "The backblast from my rocket would have killed me, not you trying to move me." Charlotte shook her head. "Better get that out of your system before the DIs get here, girl." The sergeant said with a wry smile. "They will ride you harder than the others, because they _know_ you are tougher than the others."

"So… You are not dead." Charlotte slowly straightened from where she had slumped. "You were… moved?"

"It's a long story." Miguel said dryly. "When you graduate, we will talk. Until then, keep your nose clean and work your butt off, girl. Here come the DIs." He stepped back and Charlotte spun in place to see a pair if humans in immaculate uniforms, each with an odd broad brimmed hat, come striding towards where the gaggle of humans stood.

Charlotte straightened herself and focused on keeping still as the two marine –sergeants from the rank insignia- stepped to stand in front of the now silent crowd of hopefuls.

"Listen up, recruits!" One of the sergeants, the female one, snapped. "My name is Sergeant Lisa and for my sins I have been delegated the duty of trying to turn the sorry lot of you into Marines." She looked around the crowd and Charlotte tried not to quail as the woman looked straight at her for a moment. Stories had abounded in the histories of what happened when Drill Instructors 'noticed' people. Few of them were good. But the sergeant was speaking again. "The Orokin Marines are the single most elite human fighting force in the solar system. Some of you may _think_ you know what being a Marine is all about. I can tell you right now, you don't know S***. But we are going to learn, _aren't_ we recruits?"

Charlotte and two others in the ranks shouted in unison. "Sergeant! Yes, sergeant!"

"Well, well, well…" Sergeant Lisa said, shaking her head. "We have _three_ people with motivation. _But that was __pathetic__!_" She screamed, seemingly without effort. "_There are fifty F***ing people in this F***ing formation and only __three__ of you responded?_ Geez…" She shook her head. "You will _all_ assume the 'Front Leaning Rest position." Charlotte paused with everyone else. What was _that_? The Drill Instructor did not appreciate the delay. "_What the hell are you F***ing pansies waiting for? An __invitation__?_ _On the ground, on the ground! Now! It's called a F***ing pushup, you idiot recruits!_"

Charlotte wasn't the first to the ground, but she was the first to do what she thought was a good pushup. But something tapped her on the head and she stared up into the amused eyes of the other DI. He had tapped her gently with a baton that he had produced from nowhere.

"Wait for the rest of your section, recruit." The DI said dryly. "Don't worry. You will get _lots_ of practice doing them."

"Sergeant! Yes, sergeant!" Charlotte swallowed hard as he smiled evilly and strode away. _Oh… dear… _She shook herself. She wanted this. She was ready for this_. Semper Fi_

* * *

Miguel had to shake his head as the recruits tried to do pushups and winced as two of them collapsed. The virtual forms were based off the forms in the real world, so strength of body in the real world equated to strength of body here. The DIs were on the ball though. The idea wasn't to hurt people. It was to _shock_ them. This was the easy part. In the coming days and weeks, bodies would be molded, minds would be pushed to the edge of what humans could give and in some cases beyond. But the process had worked for the Orokin Marines for millennia and he didn't see that changing any time soon.

"Gunny?" Miguel turned to see Karen standing behind him. She looked good in BDUs, more together than she had ever been in his experience. A Marine.

"PFC." The sergeant said in greeting. "Any complications?"

"No." Karen said with a shrug. "They put the box in, but are worried about leaving the ammunition."

"I _told_ them to take it out." Miguel groaned half-heartedly. "Do I have to do everything _myself_?" He complained, only about half whimsically.

"Nah." Karen said with a small smile that flitted across her face and was gone. "I told them to offload it. Charlotte wanted to be the one blow up the mech herself. Qais is watching it. The Grineer won't be able to salvage anything."

The pair of Marines turned to where the DIs had the recruits on their feet now and were guiding them into a proper formation, verbal abuse dripping.

"Can't say I am surprised that an M358 was in the armory." Miguel said with a shrug. "Smallest portal transferable armored vehicle worth a damn." And since portals were the only way in and out of Avalon…

"And if she chooses infantry or air?" Karen asked calmly. "We might be able to build a ground attack bird, but you saw what happened with that idiot robot form, Gunny. No way we could make one small enough for her that would take comparable punishment to a human body unless it was a warframe and… she wouldn't deal well with _that_."

"True. She is armor." Miguel shook his head. "I don't see her wanting anything else. Been wrong occasionally. But I don't think I am here."

"Me neither, Gunny." The Marine who was also a Tenno said with a nod. "We did our first op." Miguel tensed and Karen smiled "No casualties. In and out, the Grineer had no idea what hit them. One firebase and several other facilities destroyed."

'Don't get cocky, PFC." Miguel warned her. "Confidence is good. Arrogance is not."

"We know our limits, Gunnery Sergeant." The young Marine said with a nod. "We got the security codes and the Tenno made a mess of the Grineer fleet."

"It is what they do, PFC." Miguel said mildly. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Karen said after a moment. "I am good, Gunny. Thanks." The sergeant looked at her and she shrugged. "For giving me the chance."

"It is only going to get harder, PFC." The Gunny warned her. "The Grineer will adapt, given time. They will figure out who we are and how many we are. We don't have the numbers to beat them. And the Corpus will do their damndest to find out too. Against Infested? We wouldn't last long."

"So we do it the way a mouse eats an elephant, Gunny." Karen said with a feral smile that Miguel shared.

"One bite at a time." The two Marines chorused.

"Get out of here, PFC." Miguel said with a nod and Karen returned it. She turned, saluted the flag on the pole and vanished. Miguel shook his head as he watched the formation with Charlotte in it march away towards her future. Then he shook his head. "Home."

He was suddenly standing in the antechamber of a family dwelling. The sounds of cooking came from nearby and a calm voice called to him.

"How did it go, Dear?" His wife's voice was calm and assured. He knew this was virtual. That she was just a copy of the woman he had known and loved. He didn't care. Technically, he was probably just a copy of the human named Miguel Smith who had joined the Orokin Marines so long ago.

"She will do fine, Jesse." Miguel said as he entered the kitchen to find his two children sitting there, both with screens up. Homework probably. He knew that this was a virtual simulation. That the house that this emulated was gone. Not just destroyed, but the place it had been overgrown many times in the ensuing eons. Again, he didn't care. "Sam? Danielle? You two doing okay?"

"We are good, Dad." Sam replied, a wide smile on his face. Miguel reached down and ruffled his son's hair. Danielle smiled at him, but then went back to her studies. She was the bright one. She always had been. But… the virtual simulations would never change now. He would age and eventually perish of old age in a few centuries if some enemy didn't kill him before that. They wouldn't _ever_ change again. Not since that horrible day when the Sentients had come. Sam looked at him, worried. "Dad?"

"I am okay, Sam." Miguel said with a sigh. "Actually… I am way beyond okay. I am _good_." He said with a smile as Jesse came close and wrapped her arms around him. "It is good to be home."

"Indeed it is." His wife said, but then paused. "You are going back." He nodded and she smiled a bit forlornly. "I want you to stay. But that is not who you are."

"No." Miguel smiled gratefully. She understood. "But my field days are over I think." Jesse stiffened and Miguel sighed. "Too much damage for even the Avalon medics to fix completely."

"Oh, Miguel." Jesse whimpered a bit as she hugged him tight. His kids came close and hugged him too. "I am sorry."

"I am not the last anymore, Jesse." Miguel hugged his family tight. "Although… I expected you to be upset about what the Princess wanted."

"I always knew you were the greatest man in existence." Jesse's voice was muffled against his shoulder, but understandable. "I don't like to share, but… I am not. You are mine!" She said sharply. "Kids, homework!" That was command as she grabbed Miguel by the wrists and pulled him towards a door that led to a bedroom.

"Yes, mother." Sam said with a smile that Danielle shared. Miguel shook his head. There were some times when even _Marines_ would surrender gracefully. Not many, but some. Actually… One.

"Stop moping." Jesse said in a purr that seemed to run right through Miguel. "The Princess and those others may have your _kids_, but I have _you_."

"Yes, Ma'am." Miguel said with a smile. "Anything you say, Ma'am. Semper Fi!" And he kissed her.

**Punishment**

The tall black woman sighed as she moved the chalk across the blackboard. She was careful to keep the lines clear and legible. Much as she wanted to either throw the chalk away or write something totally inappropriate, it was not a good idea. She finished the line and stretched.

-You are not done.- The automated voice was cold and impersonal. –You have nine million, four hundred and eight thousand, three hundred and seven more lines to write.-

The Tenno known as Mag snarled, but did not quibble. The _one_ time she had quarreled with her punishment, she had suddenly started dancing in place, her arms going every which way as she sang something called 'Walk like an Egyptian'. (( watch?v=BWP-AsG5DRk&amp;feature=kp))

She shuddered a bit in memory. It was worth it. The Orokin Marines lived and in them, the memory of the US Marines continued. But it still creeped her out just how _easily_ Nyx took control through her defenses and made her do things she didn't want to. Case in point…

She sighed and scribed another line on the virtual chalkboard. The chalkboard showed the last five lines she had written and the topmost lines were vanishing again. By the time she was at the bottom, the top would be able to written on again and she would start writing all over. At least the words were easy to remember.

'I will not mind control people.'

"Having fun?" Nyx's voice preceded the other Tenno appearing in this tiny virtual space.

"Ten million, Nyx?" Mag snapped. "Ten _million_?" She kept writing.

"It will only take you a couple of real world days." Nyx said with a nasty smile that was visible even through her closed warframe helmet. "I _could_ always do what _Hayden_ did. I bet the Marines would _love_ a training dummy for hand to hand again…"

"You wouldn't…" Mag swallowed hard and kept writing.

"Keep up the good work, Mag." Nyx said with a nod. "I'll be back… in a million lines or so."

"_Nyx!_" Mag protested, but Nyx had vanished. She screamed in frustration, but then sighed and kept writing.

This _was_ better than the Marines would do to her… Much, much better. She had to keep reminding herself of that. Even if all she wanted to do was break things, Miguel and Karen were both doing well. Her goal had been achieved, at the cost of her being punished. She shook her head as she wrote another line. Worth it.

"Semper Fi." She whispered and focused on her punishment.

**The Price of Failure**

Marlena screamed as she was dumped on a table. Not that anyone could hear her. Her vocal systems had been fried along with much of the rest of her body by the radiation released in the self-destruction of the Bolo.

"This unit –designate Valkyrie- is to be repaired." The cold voice of the squad leader who had found her broken from said sternly. "The queens demand answers. They are… not pleased."

"Orders?" An odd voice asked. It was Grineer, but…not like the others. Marelna was amazed when a form entered her field of view. It wasn't wearing armor! It was Grineer from the prosthesis, but… Not _armed_? Not _armored_? What? She wore an odd garment with pockets. Almost a surgical smock, but stained. With blood and… other things.

"Repair." The squad leader snapped. "Beyond that, the queens say… 'Have fun'." Marlena quailed from the expression on the female Grineer's face. A mix of wonder, anticipation and _lust_. "They want her able to communicate, Reclaimer." He warned.

"Oh, she will be." The female Grineer reached into one of her pockets and Marlena started to scream as an old style mechanical scalpel appeared and twirled in the sort-of-a-medic's fingers. "As to how _coherent_ she is?" She shrugged and then smiled. "We shall see…"

Marlena screamed silently again and again as the form, and others garbed as she was, stepped closer, gleaming instruments in hand.

_The End__._

_For now…_


End file.
